









LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 


Shelfiii.8S. 


XJNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




























































































































































































































































- 








































« 


OF 




USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


A COMPLETE LIBRARY OF 


t • * 






USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THE MASSES, 



EMBRACED IN THE SUBJECTS OF 


HISTORY ; BIOGRAPHY,, NATURAL HISTORY , TRAVELS , 
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, MANUFACTURES, FA<7- 
ETATION ; INVENTION AND DISCOVERY, MIN¬ 
ING, THE SEA, FAMILIAR SCIENCE, THE 
LAW, STATISTICS, Etc., Etc. 


WITH TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS. 


v 


New York : 

F. M. LUPTON, PUBLISH 


No. 63 Murray Street. 


New York : 














> 


» < » 


AQi°£ 

,Ltt 


?±i*i"0 TO] 


COPYRIGHT BY 
F. M. LUPTON, 
1888. 











% 




PREFACE 


A rich store of Knowledge may be obtained from books—in fact therein 
may be found ali, or nearly all, that mankind has yet discovered; but there 
are two entirely opposite methods of giving knowledge to the world. The 
first is that which enters into extensive detail, and repels and confuses the 
average reader with scientific phraseology and verbose description. The 
second is that which seeks, by simplicity and conciseness, to make knowl¬ 
edge attractive, entertaining and amusing its readers while it instructs and 
benefits them. The latter is the method adopted in the present volume. 

The object is to present for family reading a book which will interest and 
entertain the most careless reader and at the same time fill his mind with 
knowledge of the most useful character—a book which may be taken up at 
random, as in idle moments, and read with interest and profit by all classes 
and conditions of mankind. Few men or women are so well informed that 
they will not learn much that is of real interest and value to them from this 
book. Herein is information for the curious, knowledge and facts for those 
who seek them, self education for old and young. 

The material of a dozen ordinary volumes has been carefully epitomized 
and combined in one, yet, unlike other Cyclopaedias sold at low prices, 
which are practically nothing more than defining dictionaries, it undertakes 
to treat upon only such a number of topics as can be treated satisfactorily 
and well. First, we have the department of “Biography,” containing 
sketches of the lives of half-a-hundred of the most prominent men who 
have figured in the history of this country and Europe for a century or more 
past, each biography being accompanied by a portrait. In the department 
of “ History ” are given graphic descriptions of several of the most impor¬ 
tant historical occurrences of the present and former times. Under “ Nat¬ 
ural History ” will be found exceedingly interesting descriptions of animals, 
birds, reptiles, fishes and insects, nearly all of which are accompanied by 
handsome illustrations. In the department of “ Travels, Manners and 
Customs, Etc.,” are given descriptions of the life of people of many coun¬ 
tries and climes, their peculiar rites, forms and ceremonies. Under “ The 
World Illustrated ” are described some of the most wonderful works both 
of the Creator and of man. “ Useful Arts and Manufactures ” describes 
/arious industrial processes, and will be found exceedingly interesting and 
profitable reading. Under “Trees, Plants, Fruits, Etc.,” are given de¬ 
scriptions of the vegetable productions of foreign countries, acquainting the 
reader with many interesting and useful facts regarding these things. 
“ Great Inventions ” describes the history of some of the most important 
mechanical discoveries of mankind, and “Mining” relates to the produc* 
tion of the mineral wealth of the earth. “Wonders of the Sea” treats oi 
the wonderful and beautiful things found upon the floor of the ocean. 
“Familiar Science ” describes the earth and other members of the solar 
system, likewise the various agents, forces, etc., in nature. “ Law for the 
Masses ” will be found of great benefit to men and women in the practical 



lv 


PREFACE. 


relations of life, while the department of “ Statistical and Miscellaneous ” 
is a repository of useful and interesting facts and figures. The illustrations, 
of which there are two hundred and seventy-three, form one of the most 
desirable features of the book, and greatly enhance its interest and value. 

The work is submitted in the hope that it may find a warm welcome in 
thousands of American homes, and in the firm conviction that its patrons 
will be invariably its friends and admirers. It is not too much to say that 
never before in the history of book-making has a work containing so vast 
an amount of useful information been presented in so attractive a form and 
given to the public at so low a price. It is a book for the masses—for old 
and young, rich and poor. It may be read continuously, or, by the aid of 
the index at the end, used as a work of reference. A glance over its pages 
will serve to convey an idea of the extent and variety of its contents, yet the 
real excellence and value of the work cannot be appreciated until it hasr 
been read from beginning to end. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Biography. 13 

History. 62 

Natural History. 86 

Travels, Manners and Customs, Etc. 144 

The World Illustrated.205 

Useful Arts and Manufactures. 237 

Trees, Plants, Fruits, Etc. 292 

Great Inventions.344 

Mining . 362 

Wonders of the Sea . 381 

Familiar Science. 395 

Law for the Masses.^ 















CONTENTS 


yi 

PAGE 

Statistical and Miscellaneous. 477 

Index.,. . 539 


\ 


j » 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


George Washington 
Napoleon Bonaparte . 
William Shakespeare 
Lord Byron 
William Penn 
Benjamin Franklin 
Patrick Henry 
John Adams . 

Thomas Jefferson. 

Alexander Hamilton . 

John Jacob Astor . 

Robert Fulton . 

Andrew Jackson . 

Henry Clay 
Daniel Webster . 

George Peabody 
Edward Everett . 

James Fenimore Cooper 
Washington Irving 
Abraham Lincoln 
Horace Greeley . 

Thurlow Weed 
Wendell Phillips . 

Henry Ward Beecher . 

Charles Dickens . 

William Cullen Bryant 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
Ralph Waldo Emerson 
John G. Whittier . 

Alfred Tennyson 
Herbert Spencer . 

William E. Gladstone 
Oliver Wendbll Holmes . 
James Russell Lowell 
Peter Cooper 
James A. Garfield 
Ulysses S. Grant . 

Samuel J. Tilden 
George F. Edmunds 
Allen G. Thurman 
John Sherman 
William M. Evarts 
Thomas F. Bayard 
James G. Blaine 


PAGE 

.13 

.15 

.16 

.17 

.18 

19 

.20 

21 

.22 

23 

.24 

25 

.26 

27 

.28 

29 

.30 

31 

.32 

33 

.34 

35 

.36 

. 37 

.38 

39 

.40 

41 

.42 

43 

.44 

45 

.46 

. 47 

.48 

49 

.50 

51 

.52 

53 
. 54 

55 

.56 

.57 

















viii LIST OF ILttiSTRA TlOtfS. 

PAGE 

William T. Sherman . . . . . . . .58 

Philip H. Sheridan ........ 59 

Grover Cleveland . . . .60 

Thomas A. Hendricks ....... 61 

The Lion ......... 86 

The Hippopotamus . . . . • . . . .87 

The Syrian Bear . . . . . . . .89 

The Bison ......... 90 

The Tiger ......... 91 

The Leopard ......... 92 

The Wolf .......... 93 

The Giraffe ......... 94 

The Zebu.......... 95 

The Ant-Eater ........ 96 

The Porcupine . . . . . . . . .97 

The Hedgehog ........ 98 

The Elk .......... 99 

The Stag ......... 100 

The Chamois ......... 101 

The Caribou or American Reindeer ..... 102 

Beavers .......... 103 

The Ferret ......... 105 

The Mole. . . . . . . . . 106 

The Crocodile. ........ 109 

The Alligator ......... no 

The Long-Eared Bat ....... m 

The Colugo ......... 112 

The Paper Nautilus . . . . . . . . 113 

The Flying Fish . . . . . . . . .114 

The Sea Horse ..... . . 115 

The Lyre-Bird ..... ... 116 

The Ostrich ......... 118 

The Condor . . . . . . . . .119 

The Vulture ........ . 120 

The Solitaire ......... 121 

The Bittern ......... 122 

The Heron ......... 123 

The Roseate Spoonbill ....... 124 

The Stork ......... 125 

The Crane ......... 126 

The Crested Grebe ........ 127 

The Cormorant ........ 128 

The Bird of Paradise ........ 129 

The Falcon ......... 130 

The Tailor-Bird ......... 131 

The Wheatear ........ 132 

The American Bluejay ....... 133 

The Skylark ......... 133 

The Belted Kingfisher ....... 434 

The Starling ......... 134 

The Titlark ......... 135 

Butterflies ......... 136 
















LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


k 


.Meat of the Common Humble Bee 
A Spider’s Web 

The Water Spider .... 

Chinese Ladies ..... 

A Chinese Bride ..... 

A Chinese Baby in its Winter Cradle 
Beating on a Temple Drum 
A Chinese Mode of Punishment . 

A Chinese Pavilion .... 
Porcelain Tower ..... 

Japanese Bride and Attendants 
A Japanese Family ..... 
A Japanese Bed ..... 

A Japanese Temple ..... 
The Hindoo ..... 

A Brahmin Expounding the Veda . 

The Bheels ..... 

The Mahrattas of India 
A Native Musician of India 
Natives of Banjara, India . 

Women of the Himalayas 
Suttee Worship, India 

Zebu Carriage, India .... 
Mode of Fishing in India . 

Senegambia Fulahs .... 
The Sourigo, Natives of West Africa 
Chief’s Wife Traveling, Central Africa 
Saluting a Superior .... 
Bakalahari Women Filling Water Skins 
A Family of Bedouins 
Arab Dress • 

An Arab Tent. 

Interior of a Turkish House . 

Life in Constantinople 
Mexican Women . 

Dancing Girls of Mexico 

Natives of South America 

Fruit Dealer of Rio de Janeiro 

House on the Coast of Ecuador, South America 

A Piute Lode . 

Some Piute Beaux . 

An Egyptian Woman Churning 
An Egyptian Well • • 

Approaching the King in Siam 
Eating Rice in Siam • 

The Abyssinians 

The Herdsman of the Alps 

An Icelandic Lady . 

Mountain Traveling in Spain . 

A Dinner in Palestine 
The Greek • 

Marriage Ceremony in Borneo 

PI¬ 


PAGE 
. 138 
141 
. 142 
144 
. 145 
146 
. 147 
149 
. 150 
151 
. 152 
153 
. 154 
155 
. 156 
157 
. 158 
159 
. 160 
161 
. 162 

163 
. 164 

164 
. 165 

166 
. 167 
168 
. 169 
170 
. 171 
172 
. 173 
174 
. 176 
177 
. 178 
179 
. 180 
181 
. 182 
183 
. 184 

185 
. 185 

186 
. 187 

188 
. 189 
190 
. 191 
192 














X 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Niagara Falls from Below 
The Horseshoe Fall, Niagara 
Rapids of the St. Lawrence 
Franconia Notch, White Mountains 
Watkins Glen .... 
Fawn’s Leap, Catskill Mountains . 
Trenton Falls, New York 
The Bartholdi Statue 
The Palisades of the Hudson River . 

The Allegheny River 
Natural Bridge, Virginia 
Gothic Chapel, Mammoth Cave, Kentucl 
Silver Springs, Florida . 

Silver Cascade, St. Anthony’s Falls 
Grand Canon of the Colorado . 

Great Falls of the Missouri River, Montan 
Great Springs, Yellowstone Park 
Liberty Cap, Yellowstone Park 
Great Geyser, Yellowstone Park 
Bridal Veil Fall, Yosemite Valley 
Summit of the Sierras 
Cape Horn in the Sierras 
In Arctic Seas . 

Loch Katrine . 

Edinburgh Castle 
Melrose Abbey 
Alpine Peaks 

Garden of the Tuileries, Paris 
Champs Elysees, Paris 
Vesuvius in Eruption 
Venice 

Compositor at Work . 

Composing Room 
Press Room . 

Stereotyping 
Sewing Books 
Wood Engraving . 

Copper-plate Printing 
Paper-Making Machine 
The Silk-Worm 
Calico Printing . 

Puddling Iron 

Melting Steel ... 

Glass Manufacture—Annealing Furnace 
Watch-Making—The Work Room 
Firing the Dials . 
Piano-Making—The Case Room 
il “ The Polishing Room 
The Manufacture of Soap 
A Tan-Yard .... 

Maple Sugar—Gathering the Sap 
Manufacture of Turpentine, Resin and Tar 


-Fig. 1 


PAGE 
. 205 
206 
. 207 
208 
. 209 
210 
. 211 
212 
. 213 
214 
. 215 
216 
. 217 
218 
. 219 
220 
. 221 
222 
. 223 
224 
. 225 
226 
. 227 
228 
. 229 
230 
. 231 
232 
. 233 
234 
. 235 
237 
. 238 
239 
. 240 
241 
. 242 
243 
. 248 
250 
. 252 
254 
. 255 
257 
. 260 
261 
. 262 
263 
. 264 
265 
• 267 
269 














LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



xi 

Manufacture ef Turpentine, Resin and Tar.—Fig. 2 





PAGE 

. 270 

CC (( CC (( cc 

“ - Fig. 3 



. 

, 

271 

u cc « cc cc 

“ —Fig. 4 





. 272 

Cl cc cc cc cc 

“ -Fig. 5 





273 

cc cc cc cc cc 

" —Fig. 6 





. 274 

Nail Forge .... 






277 

Manufacture of Needles—Drilling the Eyes . 





. 279 

Tea Plant, Flower and Leaf 






292 

A Tea Farm .... 






. 293 

A Coffee Plantation . 






294 

The Cacao .... 






. 295 

The Cotton Plant 






297 

Picking Cotton .... 






. 298 

Flax ..... 

• . 





300 

Hemp ..... 






. 301 

Gathering Sugar Cane 

• 





303 

Tobacco ..... 






. 305 

The India Rubber Tree 

. # 





306 

Gutta Percha .... 






. 307 

The Castor Oil Plant. 

# , 





309 

The Camphor Tree 






. 310 

Peppermint .... 






311 

Wine Growing .... 






. 312 

The Nutmeg .... 

• • 





314 

Tho Clove Tree .... 






. 315 

Cinnamon .... 

. , 





316 

Allspice ..... 






. 317 

The Almond .... 

# , 





317 

The Cocoanut Tree 






. 318 

The Pineapple 

• 





319 

The Banana Tree 






. 320 

The Date .... 

, , 





321 

The Fig ..... 






. 322 

The Orange .... 

« 





323 

The Lemon .... 






. 323 

Olives ..... 

# * 





324 

The Jak Tree .... 






. 326 

Twining Hyacinth of California 

, « 





327 

The Big Trees of California 






. 328 

The Ivory Plant 

# • 





330 

The Betel-Nut Tree 






. 331 

The Talipat Palm Tree 

# • 





333 

The Bamboo .... 






. 335 

The Star Fish Cactus 

, , 





336 

A Peruvian Forest 






. 337 

The Banyan Tree 

. 





341 

George Stephenson’s First Locomotive 






. 345 

A Modern Printing Press . 

. 





349 

Shuttle of the Wheeler and Wilson Sewing Machine 





. 353 

The Spinning Jenny . 

. 




. 

356 

The Type Writer 

. 


. 

. 


. 358 

A Silver Mine . , 

. 

. 


. 

, 

365 













xti 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Diamond Mining in Africa 
Coal Miners at Work 
Coal Cars .... 
Interior of a Sliaft . 

Entrance to the Mine 
Passage to the Mine . 

The Illuminated Lake . 
Tropical Anemone . 

Fringed Anemone 
The Diver 

Shells of the Indian Ocean 
A Living Sponge 
A Sea Aster Attached to a Crab 
A Singular Star Fish 
Herschel’s Theory of Sun Spots 
Wind Cloud . 

The Simoon 
Waterspouts . 

Rain Cloud 
Snow Cloud . 

Snow Crystals . 


PAGE 
. 368 
370 
. 371 
372 
. 374 
375 
. 376 
382 
. 383 
385 
. 387 
890 
. 392 
394 
. 401 

433 

• • . . 4&* 

434 
. 436 

437 

.. 













BIOGRAPHY 



George Washington.—George Washington was born in Westmore. 
land County, Virginia, February 22, 1732, and was the son of Augustine 
Washington, who died in 1744. His early life was spent chiefly with his 
brother at Mount Ver¬ 
non, and with Lord 
Fairfax, who owned 
great estates in the Vir¬ 
ginia valley; and in 1748 
he engaged to survey 
these wild territories 
for a doubloon a day, 
camping out for months 
in the forest, in peril 
from Indians and squat¬ 
ters. At the age of 19, 
at the beginning of the 
Seven Years’ War, he 
was appointed Adjutant 
of the provincial troops, 
with the rank of Major; 
in 1751, he made his 
only sea voyage—a trip 
to Barbadoes—with his 
brother Lawrence, who 
died soon after, and left 
George heir to his es¬ 
tates at Mount Vernon. 

At 22 (1754), he com¬ 
manded a regiment 
against the French, who 
had established them¬ 
selves at Fort Duquesne 
(now Pittsburgh), and 

held Fort Necessity george Washington. 


against superior num¬ 
bers, until compelled to capitulate. The year following, when two regiments 
of regulars were led against Fort Duquesne by General Braddock, Wash¬ 
ington volunteered; and at the disastrous ambuscade of July 9,1755, he was 
the only aide not killed or wounded. He had four bullets through his coat, 
and two horses were shot under him. In 1759, he married Mrs. Martha 
Custis, a wealthy widow. He was, like nearly all Americans of property at 
that period, a slaveholder, and possessed at his death 124 slaves, whom he 
directed, in his will, to be emancipated at the death of his wife (who sur- 



14 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

vived him but three years), so that the negroes of the two estates, who had 
intermarried, might not be separated. He was for some years a member of 
the Virginia Assembly; and in 1774, he was ready to fight for the constitu¬ 
tional rights of the colonists. The news of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 
1775) called the country to arms; and Washington, then a member of the 
Continental Congress, was elected Commander-in-Chief by that body. He 
hastened to the camp at Cambridge; compelled the evacuation of Boston; 
was driven from New York; compelled to retreat across New Jersey; often 
defeated, and reduced to the most desperate straits, by disaffection, lack of 
men and supplies, and even cabals against his authority; but by his calm 
courage, prudence, firmness and perseverance, he brought the war, with 
the aid of powerful allies, to a successful termination; and (December 23, 
1783), the independence of the thirteen colonies achieved, he retired from 
the army to Mount Vernon. He refused pay, but kept a minute account of 
his personal expenses, which were reimbursed by Congress. The Federa¬ 
tion of States having failed to give an efficient government, Washington pro¬ 
posed conventions for commercial purposes, which led to the convention of 
1787, of which he was a member, which formed the present Federal consti¬ 
tution, considered by him as the only alternative to anarchy and civil war. 
Under this constitution he was chosen President, and inaugurated at New 
York, April 30, 1789. He served two terms, and died December 14, 1799. 

John Milton.—This English poet was born in London, December 9, 
1608. His father was of an ancient Catholic family, but was disinherited on 
becoming a Protestant. By occupation he was a scrivener, and a pex*son of 
great musical accomplishments, being the composer, among other things, of 
two well-known psalm tunes—“ Norfolk ” and “ York.” From him the sou 
derived his matchless ear and that strict integrity of character for which he 
was famous. Milton was carefully nurtured and educated, graduating in 
1632 from Christ College, Cambridge, with the degree of A. M. He married 
Mary Powell, the daughter of an Oxfordshire royalist, by whom he had three 
daughters, Ann, Mary, and Deborah. The union was an unhappy one and 
a separation followed. The "wife was fond of gay society, while the husband 
was of an austere, philosophic mind, and two such natures coming together 
the inevitable clashing at once ensued. A genuine and permanent recon¬ 
ciliation took place after a lapse of time, however. Death calling his first 
wife home, the poet married a second, but she lived only about two years, 
dying in childbirth. Unceasing study affected Milton’s eyesight and he be¬ 
came totally blind, but this did not hinder his marrying a third time. “ Par¬ 
adise Lost,” his greatest poem, was sold for £5, with the promise of another 
like amount from the publisher when sales had reached 1,300 copies. He 
died Sunday, November 8,1674, and was buried in the chancel of St. Giles, 
Cripplegate, by his father’s side. He left some £1,500 in property. Milton 
was stately and grand above all English poets. In one of his prose tracts 
he did not scruple to say that he proposed to write a poem which would be 
one of the glories of the century. His pledge was at last redeemed in old 
age, blindness and neglect. 

Napoleon Bonaparte.—The celebrated warrior and Emperor of the 
French, Napoleon Bonaparte, was born at Ajaccio, in the island of Corsica, 
August 15, 1769. At the age of ten he entered the military school of Bri- 
enne, as a king’s pensioner. In 1785 he obtained his commission as Sub- 
Lieutenant in the artillery regiment de la Fere. When the Bevolution broke 


BIOGRAPHY, 


15 



out Napoleon took the popular side, but in a quiet and undemonstrative 
way. In December, 1793, he was sent by the convention to assist in the re¬ 
duction of Toulon, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of artillery. In the 
following February he was raised to the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1795 
the convention was in great peril, on account of the mutinous spirit of the 
arrondissements of the capital, and Napoleon was made commander of the 
troops provided for its defence. On the 4th of October, 1795, the national 
guard, 30,000 strong, attempted to force its way into the Tuileries, where the 
convention was sitting, but 
was routed and dispersed 
by a terrible cannonade di¬ 
rected by the young artil¬ 
lery officer. Napoleon was 
immediately appointed to 
the command of the army 
of the interior. About this 
time he made the acquaint¬ 
ance of Josephine Beauhar- 
nais. Captivated by her 
elegant manners and amia¬ 
ble disposition, he proposed 
marriage to the graceful 
widow, and was accepted. 

The ceremony took place 
March 9, 1796. A few days 
before he had been appoint¬ 
ed to the supreme command 
of the army of Italy, and he 
was forced to leave his bride 
almost at the altar. His fa¬ 
mous campaigns against the 
Austrians for the conquest 
of Upper Italy, his invasion 
of Egypt, his phenomenal 
successes in the field, often 
against apparently insur- napoleon bonaparte. 

mountable obstacles, are 

matters of history which volumes would be required to describe. He over¬ 
threw the Directory in Paris and became ruler of France, being crowned 
Emperor in 1804, and in the same year was made King of Italy. He fought 
successfully against the allied forces of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz, an¬ 
nihilated the power of Prussia and captured Berlin, defeated Spain and 
seized the city of Madrid. His wife Josephine having borne him no chil¬ 
dren, being ambitious to perpetuate his power in his family, he proceeded 
to divorce her, and married Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria. Such is 
the outline of the history of the wonderful conquests of Napoleon, but soon 
disasters fell thick and fast. He invaded Russia with an army of half a 
million men. The Russians retreated, deliberately wasting the country and 
carrying off the supplies, but avoiding all engagements, the design being to 
surround Napoleon in the heart of the country, and, by the help of famine 
and the rigors of a northern winter, annihilate him. When he reached Mos¬ 
cow the city was deserted by its inhabitants, and a fire broke out which 
raged for three days and left the city a heap of ruins. When he began his 



16 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

retreat his army was reduced to 120,000, and when he at last escaped from 
Russia he had not more than 25,000. Afterward, in his conflict with the 
allied powers of Prussia, Austria, and Russia, at Leipzig, and with the En¬ 
glish and Prussians at Waterloo, he was completely annihilated, and lost his 
crown and liberty. He died an exile on the island of St. Helena, May 5,1821. 

William Shakespeare.—This famous man, who has been called “ the 
chief literary glory of England,” was born at Stratford-on-Avon, April 23, 

1564. His father, John Shake¬ 
speare, was a yeoman, but his 
mother, Mary Arden, came of 
a good old Warwickshire fam¬ 
ily. William was the third 
child of a family of four sons 
and four daughters, and at the 
free grammar school of Strat¬ 
ford received his entire educa¬ 
tion. Misfortune overtook the 
father when the son was four¬ 
teen years of age, and in con¬ 
sequence William was with¬ 
drawn from school and set to 
work to earn his own liveli¬ 
hood. In what manner he was 
employed is unknown, but it is 
probable that he lived miscel¬ 
laneously as he could. At the 
age of nineteen he was married 
to Anne Hathaway, of Shottery. 
Four children were born to 
them, two daughters and one 
son, the last mentioned dying 
in his twelfth year. Shake¬ 
speare went to London in 1586, 
and became identified in an 
humble capacity with the Blackfriars Theatre, and very speedily we find 
him a man of some importance, at once dramatist, actor, and shareholder in 
the institution. As an actor he seems at no time to have shone especially, 
being rather respectable than eminent. As dramatist, his magnificent pow¬ 
ers were at once recognized, and in no long time had won for him the very 
foremost rank among the writers for the stage of his time. He was a man of 
shrewd business ability, and his material prosperity kept pace with his po¬ 
etical reputation. In addition to being a considerable shareholder in the 
Blackfriars Theatre he became part proprietor of the Globe, subsequently 
erected. To both he contributed dramas, and from his gains in the triple 
capacity of actor, author, and shareholder, he rapidly amassed a fortune. 
He purchased largely of landed property in his native town of Stratford, and 
in 1613 left London and established himself at the former place, where he 
occupied the closing days of his life in agricultural pursuits, but still con¬ 
tinued to write for the stage. His death took place on his 53d birthday, 
April 23, 1616. The only works of Shakespeare certainly published under 
his own hand were the two poems “ Venus and Adonis ” and the “ Rape of 
Lucreee,” which appeared in 1593—1594 respectively. As was naturally to bo 




J5 IvGIxaPHY. 


17 

looked for in the case of pieces on the stage so popular, certain of his dramas 
found their way from time to time into print, hut no authoritative edition of 
any of them was issued during his lifetime. The first collected edition of 
his dramas was issued in 1623, by Heminge and Condell, his friends and co- 
proprietors in the BlackMars and Globe theatres. A second edition fol¬ 
lowed in 1632; a third in 1664; and a fourth in 1685. In 1709, appeared the 
edition of Rowe, with a prefatory sketch of the poet’s life. Of the “ Shake¬ 
spearean literature ” which followed, and the various re-issues of the dramas, 
with such masses of critical 
commentary and emenda¬ 
tion as no other writer has 
ever perhaps been made the 
subject of, it would be hope¬ 
less to attempt an account. 

Lord Byron.—George 
Gordon, Lord Byron, was 
born in Holies Street, Lon¬ 
don, on the 22d of January, 

1788. He was the only son 
of Captain John Byron, of 
the Guards, and Catherine 
Gordon, of Gight, an heir¬ 
ess in Aberdeenshire. Cap¬ 
tain Byron and his wife did 
not live happily. The hus¬ 
band’s habits were profligate 
in the highest degree, and 
the wife’s fortune was soon 
squandered. Separated 
from her husband, the lady 
retired to the city of Aber¬ 
deen with her little lame 
boy, whom she passionately 
loved, her sole income at 
this time being about £130 
per annum. In his 11th 
year, Byron succeeded his grand uncle, William Lord Byron; and mother 
and son immediately left the north for Newstead Abbey, the ancient seat of 
the family. On succeeding to the title, Byron was placed in a private school 
at DAlwich, and thereafter sent to Harrow. In 1805, he removed to Trinity 
College, Cambridge; and two years thereafter his first vohime of verse, en¬ 
titled “ Hours of Idleness,” was printed at Newark. The poems therein 
contained were not absolutely without merit, but they might have been 
written by any well-educated lad, who, in addition to ordinary ability, pos¬ 
sessed the slightest touch of poetic sensibility. The volume was fiercely 
assailed by Lord (then Mr.) Brougham, in the Edinburgh Review , and his 
sarcasms stung Byron into a poet. The satire, “ English Bards and Scotch 
Reviewers,” was written in reply to the article in the Edinburgh , and the 
town was taken by a play of wit and a mastery of versification unequalled 
since the days of Pope. In 1812, he published the first two cantos of “ Childe 
Harold,” with immense success, and was at once enrolled among the great 
poets of his country. During the next two years, he produced “ The 





18 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



Giaour,” “ The Bride of Abj'dos,” “The Corsair,” and “Lara.” He mar¬ 
ried Miss Milbanke, daughter of Sir Kalph Milbanke, a baronet in the County 
of Durham. This union proved singularly infelicitous. It lasted only a 
year, and during that brief period, money embarrassments, recriminations, 
and all the miseries incident to an ill-assorted marriage, were ol frequent 
occurrence. After the birth of her child Ada, Lady Byrcn retired to her 
father’s house, and refused to return. At Geneva, Byron produced the 
third canto of “ CMlde Harold” and “The Prisoner of Chillon.” “Man¬ 
fred ” and “ The Lament of Tasso ” were written in 1817. The next year, 
he was at Venice, and finished “ Childe Harold ” there; and, in the 

gay and witty “ Beppo,” made 
an experiment in the new field 
which he was afterwards to 
work so successfully. During 
the next three years, he pro¬ 
duced the first five cantos of 
“ Don Juan,” and a number of 
dramas of various merit, 

“ Cain ” and “ Werner ” being 
opposite poles. In 1822, he 
removed to Pisa, and worked 
there at “Don Juan,” which 
poem, with the exception of 
“ The Vision of Judgment,” 
occupied his pen almost up to 
the close of his life. He died 
at Missolonghi, in Greece, 
April 19, 1824. His body was 
conveyed to England; and, 
denied a resting-place in West¬ 
minster Abbey, it rests in the 
family vault in the village 
church of Hucknall, near New- 
stead. 

William Penn. — The 

celebrated English Quaker 
william penn and philanthropist and found¬ 

er of the colony of Pennsylva¬ 
nia, William Penn, was the son of Sir William Penn, an eminent English 
admiral, and was born at London, October 14, 1644. He studied at Christ 
Church, Oxford, and while here was converted to Quakerism by Thomas 
Loe. His enthusiasm for his new faith was very great, and for non-confor¬ 
mity with the customs and services of the Church of England he was beaten 
and turned out of doors by his father, and, on one occasion, imprisoned in 
the Tower of London, and at another time in Newgate. His famous works, 
“ No Cross, No Crown,” “ Innocency with her Open Face,” and “ The Great 
Cause of Liberty of Conscience ” were written while in prison. In Septem¬ 
ber, 1670, Admiral Penn died, leaving his son an estate of £1,500 a year, to¬ 
gether with claims against the government for £16,000. He married, in the 
beginning of 1672, Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter of Sir William Sprin- 
gett, and for some years thereafter continued to propagate, by preaching 
and writing, the doctrines of his sect. Circumstances having turned his at- 



BIOGRAPHY. 


19 



tention to the New World, he, in 1681, obtained from the crown, in lieu of 
his monetary claim upon it, a grant of the territory now forming the State of 
Pennsylvania. Penn wanted to call it Sylvania, on account of its forests; 
but the king (Charles II) good-humoredly insisted on the prefix Penn. His 
great desire was to establish a home for his co-religionists in the distant 
West, where they might preach and practice their convictions in peace. Penn, 
with several friends, sailed for the Delaware in August, 1682, was well re¬ 
ceived by the settlers, and on the 30th of November held his famous inter- 
view with the Indian tribes, 
under a large elm tree at 
Shackamaxon, now Kensing¬ 
ton. He next planned and 
named the city of Philadelphia, 
and for two years governed 
the colony in the wisest, most 
benevolent and liberal manner. 

Not only Quakers, but perse¬ 
cuted members of other re¬ 
ligious sects, sought refuge in 
his new colony, where, from 
the first, the principle of tol¬ 
eration was established by law. 

Having called the colonists to¬ 
gether, he gave the infant state 
a constitution in twenty-four 
articles. Toward the end of 
the reign of Charles II, Penn 
returned to England to exert 
himself in favor of his perse¬ 
cuted brethren at home. His 
exertions in favor of the Qua¬ 
kers were so far successful, 
that in 1686 a proclamation was 
issued to release all persons 
imprisoned on account of their 
religious opinions, and more 
than 1,200 Quakers were set free. In 1693, his wile died, but in less than 
two years he married again. His second wife, Hannah Callowhill, was a 
Bristol lady. In 1699 he paid a second visit to the New World, and found 
Pennsylvania in a prosperous condition. His stay, which lasted two years, 
was marked by many useful measures, and by efforts to ameliorate the con¬ 
dition both of the Indians and Negroes. Penn departed for England towards 
the end of 1701, leaving the management of his affairs to a Quaker agent 
named Ford, whose villainy virtually ruined Penn. When the rogue died, 
he left to his widow and son false claims against his master, and these were 
so ruthlessly pressed, that Penn allowed himself to be thrown into the Fleet 
in 1708, to avoid extortion. His friends afterwards procured his release, but 
not till his constitution was fatally impaired. Penn died at Ruscombe, in 
Berkshire, July 30, 1718. 


BENJAMIN FBANKLIN. 


Benj amin Franklin.—The distinguished philosopher and statesman, 
Benjamin Franklin, was born at Boston, January 17,1706. His parents were 
poor, and had a family of seventeen children, he being the fifteenth. Josiah 


20 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Franklin, his father, had left England in 1685, and settled in America, where 
he followed the business of soap-boiler and tallow chandler. At the age of 
eight, Franklin was sent to school, where he displayed great aptitude for 
learning. At twelve, he was apprenticed to his step-brother James, who 
had set up a printing shop in the place, and he soon acquired considerable 
proficiency at that trade. He was passionately fond of reading, and all the 
time he could spare he devoted to the perusal of such books as he could lay 
his hands on. His brother treated him unkindly, and he secretly left home 

and .journeyed to New York, 
and thence to Philadelphia, 
where he procured employ¬ 
ment in a printing office. He 
led a somewhat wandering 
life and endured many hard¬ 
ships, until in 1726, with the 
assistance of friends, he start¬ 
ed in business for himself in 
Philadelphia. He became edi¬ 
tor and proprietor of the Ga¬ 
zette, and published the fa¬ 
mous “Poor Richard’s Alma¬ 
nac.” In 1730 he married a 
Miss Read. He founded the 
first association for extinguish¬ 
ing fires and the first com¬ 
pany for insurance against 
fire, and through his instru¬ 
mentality was established the 
first public library in Phila¬ 
delphia. Among the public 
offices to which he was ap¬ 
pointed were those of clerk to 
the General Assembly of Penn¬ 
sylvania in 1736; postmaster of 
Philadelphia in 1737; repre¬ 
sentative of Philadelphia in 
the Assembly in 1747. In 
1753, he was appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for the British colonies. 
In 1757, he was sent to England to settle some matters for the Assembly, 
and so ably did he perform his task, that Massachusetts, Maryland, and 
Georgia severally appointed him their English agent. In 1752 he discovered 
the identity of electricity with lightning, and turned his discovery to account 
by publishing a plan for defending houses from lightning by the use of 
pointed conductors. He likewise made important discoveries with regard 
to the laws that regulate the electric fluid, a subject hitherto very imper¬ 
fectly understood. His renown was spread over the whole civilized world, 
and honors were heaped upon him by the various learned societies of Eu¬ 
rope. He was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775, and 
from that time exerted himself to the utmost to obtain a Declaration of the 
Independence of the thirteen American States. This Declaration was pro¬ 
nounced by Congress on the 4th of July, 1776, and Franklin was appointed 
United States Minister at the Court of France, where he succeeded in induc¬ 
ing the French government to form an offensive and defensive alliance with 



PATRICK HENRY. 


Bio a HA PHY. 


21 



the States. On the 20th of January, 1782, Franklin had the supreme satis¬ 
faction of signing at Paris, with the English commissioners, the treaty of 
peace by which the independence of the American colonies was assured. 
Returning to America in 1785, he was successively chosen member and presi¬ 
dent of the supreme executive council for the city of Philadelphia, and in 
1787 delegate for Pennsylvania to the convention for the revision and emen¬ 
dation of the Articles of Union. In 1788, he retired from public life, and 
died April 17, 1790, at the ad¬ 
vanced age of 84. 

Patrick Henry.—This 
eminent American orator was 
born in Hanover County, Vir¬ 
ginia, in 1736. His father was 
a native of Scotland, and a 
nephew of Robertson, the cele¬ 
brated historian. In early life, 

Henry seemed too indolent to 
apply himself to any regular 
occupation. He managed, how¬ 
ever, to pick up much general 
information, and seemed to 
possess byintuition a profound 
knowledge of human nature 
in its various phases. Having 
failed successively in “ store- 
keeping” and in farming, he 
was at length induced to try 
the profession of law. For a 
few years this seemed to prom¬ 
ise no better success than his 
former occupations had done, 
but having been employed in 
1755 to plead the cause of the 
people against an unpopular 
tax, his peculiar talent seemed 
suddenly to develop itself; his eloquence, untaught except by the inspira¬ 
tion of native genius, thrilled the audience, and held it in rapt attention 
more than two hours. From that moment to the present day he has been 
universally regarded as the greatest of American orators. He was a zealous 
patriot in the war of the Revolution, and was one of the most prominent and 
influential members of the Virginia Legislature, when that State was delib¬ 
erating whether or not to join Massachusetts in forcibly resisting the arbi¬ 
trary policy of the home government. Henry was a delegate to the first 
general Congress, which met at Philadelphia, in September, 1774, and his 
voice was the first to break the silence of that assembly. His eloquence on 
that occasion is said to have astonished all his hearers. In 1776, he was 
elected Governor of Virginia, and was afterwards twice re-elected. In 1795, 
Washington appointed him Secretary of State, He died in 1799. 


JOHN ADAMS. 


John Adams.—The second President of the United States was born at 
Braintree, in Massachusetts, on the 19th of October, 1735. His parents were 
descended from a Puritan family which had emigrated from England to Mas- 


22 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



sachusetts in 1640. Before the Revolution Adams had distinguished himself 
as a jurist, and wrote in the Boston Journal on “ Canon Law and Feudal 
Law ” (1765). He was sent by Massachusetts to the Congress which com¬ 
menced its sittings in Philadelphia in 1774. With Lee and Jefferson he 
boldly argued for a separation from the mother-country; and Lee’s propo¬ 
sition of a Declaration of Independence was carried on the 4th of July, 1776. 
Adams and Jefferson had been appointed to draw up the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence, but it appears that Jefferson was the sole author of it. In suc¬ 
ceeding years, Adams was 
employed on many important 
negotiations with European 
powers; among others, he as¬ 
sisted Franklin, Jay, Jefferson 
and Laurens, in 1782, in set¬ 
tling the conditions of peace 
with England. In 1785 he 
went to London as the first 
ambassador from the Union. 
George III expressed his 
pleasure in receiving an am¬ 
bassador who had no preju¬ 
dices in favor ot the French, 
the natural enemy of tlie En¬ 
glish crown, and Adams re¬ 
plied: “ I have no prejudices 
but in favor of my native 
land.” He published in Lon¬ 
don his “ Defence of the Con¬ 
stitutions of Government of 
the United States” (3 vols. 
1787). On his return to Amer¬ 
ica, in the same year, he was 
elected as Vice-President of 
the United States, and on the 
retirement of Washington (in 
1797, became President. In 
1801, when his term of four years of office had expired, his adversary Jeffer¬ 
son was elected by a majority of one vote. Adams now retired to his estate 
at Quincy, near Boston, where he occupied himself with agricultural pur¬ 
suits. After this retirement, he received many proofs of respect and confi¬ 
dence from his countrymen. When 85 years old, we find him still in his 
place as member of the convention appointed (1820) to revise the Constitu¬ 
tion of Massachusetts. He died on the 4th of July, 1826, on the fiftieth anni¬ 
versary of the day when he had proclaimed in Congress the independence of 
the United States. 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


Thomas Jeffer son.—The third President of the United States, Thomas 
Jefferson, was the son of a planter, and was born at Shadwell, Albemarle 
County, Virginia, April 2, 1743. He studied at William and Mary’s College, 
Williamsburg; and after leaving college, was engaged for some years in the 
practice of law. In 1769, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
where he joined zealously with the revolutionary party. In 1773, as a Mem¬ 
ber of the Assembly, he took a prominent part in the measures which re- 



BIOGRAPHY. 


2S 

suited in the calling of the Continental Congress, to which he was sent as a 
delegate, where he drew up the celebrated Declaration of Independence. 
During the war in defence of this Declaration, he was Governor of Virginia, 
and in 1784 was sent Minister to France, where his manners, accomplish¬ 
ments, and more solid qualities did much to secure to America the powerful 
alliance that insured her success. Returning in 1789, he was appointed, by 
Washington, Secretary of State, a post due to his abilities, his influence, and 
his distinguished services. The Federal constitution had been adopted, and 
the two parties which soon di¬ 
vided the country began to de¬ 
velop themselves. Washing¬ 
ton, John Adams, Jay, and 
Hamilton were in favor of a 
strong centralized govern¬ 
ment; Jefferson led the party 
in favor of States’ rights, and 
a Federal Government of re¬ 
stricted and carefully defined 
powers. The first party took 
the name of Federalists; the 
latter were first called Anti- 
Federalists, then Republicans, 
and finally adopted the title 
first given them, as a reproach, 
of Democrats. When Wash¬ 
ington retired, after eight years 
of office as President, a new 
election took place, the two 
highest candidates, as leaders 
of the opposing parties, were 
John Adams and Jefferson. 

Adams, having the largest 
vote, was declared President, 
while Jefferson, having the 
next highest number, became 
the Vice-President, 1797. The 
strife of these parties culmi¬ 
nated in 1800, when Jefferson and Aaron Burr were elected President and 
Vice-President, against John Adams, the Federal candidate. On entering 
upon the Presidency, he reduced the government to a republican simplicity, 
made few removals, and resolutely refused to appoint any of his own rela¬ 
tives to office. The most important act of his administration was the pur¬ 
chase of Louisiana from France. At the end of eight years, he retired to his 
residence at Monticello. His death was very remarkable; it occurred on 
the 4th of July, 1826, while the nation was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary 
of the Declaration of Independence, which he had written. On the same 
day, and almost at the same hour, John Adams, the second President, who 
had’signed with him the Declaration, died in New England. 

Alexander Hamilton.—This celebrated American statesman was born 
in January, 1757, in the West Indian island of Nevis, and was the son of a 
Scotch merchant who had married a young French widow. His father soon 
failed in business, and Alexander, at the age of twelve, had to enter the 



24 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



counting-house of a rich American merchant, named Cruger. His extra¬ 
ordinary abilities, however, induced some of his friends to procure for him 
a better education than could be got at home. He was accordingly sent to a 
grammar-school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey; and shortly afterwards en¬ 
tered Columbia College, New York. On the first appearance of disagree¬ 
ment between Great Britain and her colonies, Hamilton, still a schoolboy, 
and barely eighteen, wrote a series of papers in defence of the rights of the 
latter, which were at first taken for the production of the eminent statesman 

Jay, and which secured for the 
writer the notice and consid¬ 
eration of the popular leaders. 
On the outbreak of the war, he 
obtained a commission as Cap¬ 
tain of Artillery, gained the 
confidence of Washington, was 
made his aide-de-camp in 1777, 
and acquired the greatest in¬ 
fluence with him as his friend 
and adviser. In 1780, he mar¬ 
ried a daughter of General 
Schuyler, who was a member 
of a very old family. On the 
termination of the war, he left 
the service with the rank of 
Colonel, and betaking himself 
to legal studies, soon became 
one of the most eminent law¬ 
yers in New York. In 1782, he 
was elected by the State of 
New York a Representative at 
the Continental Congress; in 
1786, he became a member of 
the New York Legislature; and 
in 1787, he was appointed one 
of the delegates to the con¬ 
vention which met at Phila¬ 
delphia, for the purpose of re¬ 
vising the Articles of Confederation. In conjunction with Madison, he had 
the most important share in drawing up the Constitution afterward adopted. 
He was a strong supporter of the Federal, as opposed to the Democratic 
party; and, with Jay and Madison, defended the Constitution against all at¬ 
tacks, by a series of letters in the Daily Advertiser, of New York, afterwards 
collected and published under the title of “ The Federalist.” On the estab¬ 
lishment of the new government in 1789, with Washington as President, Ham¬ 
ilton was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. In 1795, he resigned his 
office, and resumed the practice of law in New York. When the war with 
France broke out in 1798, he was, according to the wish of Washington, 
made Major-General of the United States Army; and, on the death of Wash¬ 
ington, he succeeded to the chief command. When peace was restored, he 
returned to his civil duties, but became involved in a political quarrel with 
Aaron Burr. This difference unhappily culminated in a duel, in which 
Hamilton received a wound, of which he died the following day (July 12, 
1804). 


JOHN JACOB ASTOE. 




BIOGRAPHY. 


25 



John Jacob As tor. —This enterprising merchant, founder of the 
American Fur Company, was born in a village near Heidelberg, in Germany, 
1763. After spending some years in London, he sailed to America in 1783, 
and soon invested his small capital in furs. By economy and industry, he 
so increased his means that after six years he had acquired a fortune of 
$200,000. Although the increasing influence of the English fur companies 
in North America was unfavorable to his plans, he now ventured to fit 
out two expeditions to the Oregon territory—one by land and one by sea 
—the purpose of which was to open up a regular commercial inter¬ 
est with the natives. After 
many mishaps, his object 
was achieved in 1811, and the 
furtrading station of Astoria 
was established; but the war of 
1812 stopped its prosperity for 
a time. From this period As- 
tor’s commercial connections 
extended over the entire globe, 
and his ships were found in 
every sea. He died in 1848, 
leaving property amounting to 
$30,000,000. He left a legacy 
of $350,000 for the establish¬ 
ment of a public library in 
New York. His wealth was 
mainly inherited by his son, 

William, who continued to aug¬ 
ment it till his death in 1875, 
when he is said to have left 
$50,000,000. He added $200,- 
000 to his father’s bequest for 
a public library. He was known 
as the “ landlord of New York ” 
from the extent of his property 
in that city. 


Robert Tulton. — The 

celebrated American engineer, 

Robert Fulton, was bom at Little Britain, Pennsylvania. His parents be¬ 
longed to Ireland, whence they emigrated to America; and being in poor cir¬ 
cumstances, all the education young Fulton acquired was the ability to read 
and write. When he was old enough, his mother apprenticed him to a jew¬ 
eler in Philadelphia. In addition to his labors at this trade, he devoted 
himself to painting; and the sale of his portraits and landscapes enabled 
him, in the space of four years, to purchase a small farm, on which he 
placed his mother, his father being dead. At the age of twenty-two, he pro¬ 
ceeded to London, where he studied painting under West; but after several 
years spent thus, he abandoned painting, and applied himself wholly to 
mechanics. In 1794, he obtained from the British government a patent for 
an inclined plane, the object of which was to set aside the use of locks; and 
in the same year, he invented a mill for sawing and polishing marble. His 
next invention was a machine for spinning flax, followed by one for making 
ropes. He was received as a civil engineer in 1795; and wrote a work on 


26 CYCLOPEDIA OF USE FPL KNOWLEDGE. 


canals, in which he developed his system. Accepting an invitation from the 
United States Minister at Paris, he proceeded to that city in 1796, and re¬ 
mained there for seven years, devoting himself to new projects and inven¬ 
tions. Amongst his inventions here was the nautilus or submarine boat, in¬ 
tended to be used in naval warfare, which he in vain sought the French 
government to accept; nor was he more successful with the British govern¬ 
ment, which he next tried, though commissions were appointed in both 

cases to test the value of 
his invention. Having 
failed in this matter, he 
next turned his attention to 
the application of steam to 
navigation. In 1803, he con¬ 
structed a small steamboat, 
and his experiments with it on 
the Seine were attended with 
great success. He returned 
in 1806 to New York, and pur¬ 
sued bis experiments there. 
He perfected his Torpedo sys¬ 
tem, which was afterwards em¬ 
ployed effectively in the war 
between Britain and America. 
In 1807, he launched a steam- 
vessel upon the Hudson, which 
made a successful start, in the 
presence of thousands of as¬ 
tonished spectators. From this 
period, steamers (for the con¬ 
struction of which Fulton re¬ 
ceived a patent from the Leg¬ 
islature) came into pretty gen¬ 
eral use upon the rivers of the 
United States. Although Ful¬ 
ton was not the first to apply 
steam to navigation, as a steam 
vessel had been tried upon the Forth and Clyde Canal as early as 1789, yet 
he was the first to apply it with any degree of success. He died in 1815. 

Andrew Jackson.— This famous General and seventh President of tho 
United States was bora at Waxaw settlement, South Carolina, March 15, 
1767. His father, who was a Scotchman by birth, emigrated to America in 
1765, and soon afterwards died, leaving to his widow a half-cleared farm in 
a new settlement, with no negroes to assist in its cultivation. When Jackson 
grew up, he was sent to study for the church, but on the breaking out of the 
American Revolution, he and his brothers were summoned to the field, and 
the elder lost his life at Stono Ferry. Andrew, though but thirteen years 
old, fought with his remaining brother under Sumter, and remained with 
the army until the end of the war. In 1784 he commenced the study of law, 
and in 1787 was appointed solicitor for the western district of South Caro¬ 
lina, now the State of Tennessee. This frontier settlement had for its neigh¬ 
bors several powerful tribes of Indians, against whom Jackson fought with 
such success as to get from them the complimentary titles of “ Sharp Knife ” 




BIOGRAPHY. 


27 

and “Pointed Arrow.” In 1796, he was a member of the convention which 
modeled the Constitution and organized the State of Tennessee, and was 
elected to the Legislature as Representative, and then as Senator, and ap¬ 
pointed Judge of the Supreme Court (an office he soon resigned), and Major- 
General of the State Militia. In 1813, at an outbreak of hostilities with the 
Creek Indians, he raised a volunteer force of two or three thousand men, 
and defeated them. When destitute of supplies, he is said to have set an 
example of endurance by feeding on hickory-nuts, and hence, according to 
some, to have acquired the 
popular sobriquet of “ Old 
Hickory.” Jackson’s final vic¬ 
tory (March 27, 1814) at the 
Horseshoe peninsula, in the 
Tallahoosa, completely broke 
the power of the Indian race 
in North America. In conse¬ 
quence of his skill and energy 
in Indian warfare, he was ap¬ 
pointed a Major-General of the 
Army of the United States; and 
in the contemporaneous war 
with England had command 
of the forces which captured 
Pensacola, and defended New 
Orleans against the attack of 
the British under General 
Packenham, December, 1814. 

After Spain had ceded Florida 
to the United States, he was 
made Governor of the territory 
and subsequently was chosen 
United States Senator from 
Tennessee. In 1824, he re¬ 
ceived the highest vote of four 
candidates for the Presidency 
of the United States, but by 
the influence of Mr. Clay, John 
Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representatives. He was, how¬ 
ever, in spite of bitter and violent opposition, elected by the Democratic 
party in 1828, and in 1832 re-elected by a still more overwhelming majority. 
His administration was marked by singular firmness. He vetoed important 
measures against large majorities, and, after a long struggle, destroyed the 
Bank of the United States, and took the first steps towards a specie currency 
and independent treasury. He died at his farm of the Hermitage, near 
Nashville, June 8, 1845. 

Henry Clay.—The famous American statesman, Henry Clay, was born 
April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Virginia. He early devoted himself to 
the law, and fixing his residence at Lexington, Kentucky, soon obtained a 
lucrative practice and political influence enough to be elected to the State 
Legislature. In 1806 he was elected to Congress, and again in 1809 he was 
chosen Senator for a term of two years. In 1811 he was sent to the House 
of Representatives, where he was immediately elected Speaker. A strong 



28 CYCLOPEDIA OP TTSEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


advocate of nationality, he denounced the claims put forth by England as to 
right of search; he was a strenuous supporter of the war with that country, 
and in consequence was sent, in 1814, as one of the commissioners to sign 
the treaty of peace at Ghent, where his acuteness secured for America many 
advantages. On his return, he exerted all his talents in favor of the inde¬ 
pendence of South America, and labored hard to eradicate all European in¬ 
fluence from the American continent. Clay, however, is best known as the 
author of the famous “ Missouri Compromise,” restricting slavery to the 

States south of 36° 30' n. lat.; 
and also for the compromise 
of 1850, known as Clay’s “ Om¬ 
nibus ’ ’ measure. He died in 
June, 1852. He was very pop¬ 
ular during his lifetime, and 
was two or three times pro¬ 
posed for the Presidency, an 
honor, however, which he 
never succeeded in obtaining. 

Daniel Webster —The 

great American statesman and 
jurist, Daniel Webster, was 
born at Salisbury, New Hamp¬ 
shire, January 18, 1782, and 
was the second son of Eben- 
ezer Webster, a small farmer, 
and Justice of the County 
Court. He entered Dartmouth 
College in 1797, and taught 
school in winter to pay his ex¬ 
penses, and aid his brother, 
Ezekiel, who became a dis¬ 
tinguished lawyer, in fitting 
for college. On graduating in 
1801, he commenced to study 
law, but was induced, by the 
offer of a salary of $350 a year, 
to become preceptor of an academy at Fryburg, Maine, paying his board by 
copying deeds. In 1804, he went to Boston, and entered the law office of 
Mr. Gore, refusing an appointment of clerk of the court of which his father 
was a judge, at $1,500 a year. In 1805, having been admitted to the Boston 
bar, he established himself at Portsmouth, New Hampshire; married in 
1808; and having engaged in politics as a member of the Federalist party, 
was elected to Congress, where he immediately took rank with the foremost 
men of the country. His speech on the Berlin and Milan Decrees, and his 
mastery of the question of currency and finance, gave him a high position; 
but he determined, in 1816, to remove to Boston, where, leaving politics, 
he engaged for several years in legal practice of the most extensive and va¬ 
ried character. In 1822 he was elected to Congress from Boston, and was 
distinguished by his speeches on the Holy Alliance and the Greek Revolu¬ 
tion, and his labors in the revision of the criminal laws of the United States. 
Iu 1826, he was chosen Senator; and in 1830, he rose to the height of his for¬ 
ensic renown in a speech of two days, in the debate with Mr. Hayne, of 



BIOGRAPHY. 


29 



South Carolina, on the right of “ nullification.” Webster and Clay were the 
leaders of the opposition during the administrations of Jackson and Van 
Buren. In 1839, he visited England, Scotland and France; and in 1841, ac¬ 
cepted the post of Secretary of State in the Cabinet of General Harrison, and 
remained in that of Mr. Tyler, who, as Vice-President, succeeded on the 
death of the President, until 1843. In 1844, he aspired to the Presidency, 
but the choice of his party fell 
upon Mr. Clay, whom he sup¬ 
ported, butunsuccessfully. He 
was chosen Senator for Mas¬ 
sachusetts, and again in 1848 
was disappointed of the Presi¬ 
dential nomination by the pop¬ 
ular enthusiasm for General 
Taylor. His senatorial efforts 
at this period were directed 
to the preservation of the 
Union by the advocacy of com¬ 
promises on the slavery ques¬ 
tion, and he gave offence to 
the Abolitionists by defending 
the Fugitive Slave Law. In 
1850, he became again Secre¬ 
tary of State in the Cabinet of 
Mr. Fillmore; and in 1852 was 
once more, and no doubt griev¬ 
ously, disappointed at not re¬ 
ceiving the nomination to the 
Presidency, which was given 
to General Scott. He did net 
live to see the defeat of his 
rival; but after a brief illness, 
died at his country residence 
at Marshfield, Massachusetts, 

October 24, 1852. 


GEOKGE PEABODY. 


George Peabody.— This 
name deserves to be held in 
remembrance on account of his munificent philanthropy. He was born at 
Danvers, Massachusetts, February 18,1795. His parents were poor, and his 
only education was received at the district school. At the age of eleven he 
was placed with a grocer, and at fifteen in a haberdasher’s shop in Newbury- 
port. When twenty-two years old, he was a partner with Elisha Biggs in 
Baltimore. Iu 1827 he first visited England, where he settled permanently 
ten years later. Withdrawing from the Baltimore firm in 1843, he established 
himself in London as a merchant and money-broker, and accumulated a 
large fortune. As one of three commissioners appointed in 1848 by the State 
of Maryland to obtain the restoration of its credit, he refused all payment, 
and received a special vote of thanks from the Legislature of that State. In 
1851 he supplied the sum required to fit up the American Department at the 
great exhibition. In the following year he sent a large donation, afterwards 
increased to $270,000, to found an Educational Institute, etc., in his native 
town of Danvers (which is now called Peabody). He contributed $10,000 to 












30 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the first Grinnell Arctic Expedition; $1,400,000 to the city of Baltimore for an 
Institute of Science, Literature and the Fine Arts; $8,000,000 for the promo¬ 
tion of education, endowment of libraries, etc., in the United States. From 
1862 to 1868, he gave $1,750,000 for the benefit of the London poor, and in 
his will he left $750,000 for the same purpose. This vast sum has been em¬ 
ployed in building dwellings for the working-classes. He died in London 
in 1869. 



Edward Everett.— This distinguished American was born in 1794, at 
Dorchester, near Boston, Massachusetts, entered Harvard College in 1807, 

and took his degree in 1811. 
He was for some time a Uni¬ 
tarian clergyman in the town 
of Cambridge, and in this ca¬ 
pacity had the reputation of 
being one of the most eloquent 
and pathetic preachers in the 
United States. In 1815, he was 
elected Professor of the Greek 
Language and Literature in 
Harvard College; and to qual¬ 
ify himself more thoroughly 
for his work, he visited Eu¬ 
rope, where he resided for 
four years, and had a distin¬ 
guished circle of acquaintance 
—including Scott, Byron, Jef¬ 
frey, Romilly, Davy, etc. M. 
Cousin, the French philoso¬ 
pher and translator of Plato, 
pronounced him “ one of the 
best Grecians he ever knew.” 
In 1820, Everett became editor 
of The North American lie- 
view; and in 1824, a Member 
of the United States Congress, 
sitting in the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives for ten years. In 1835, he was appointed Governor of Massachu¬ 
setts; and in 1841, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James. While 
in England, he received from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and 
Dublin the degree of D. C. L. On his return to America in 1845, he was 
elected President of Harvard College; on the decease of Daniel Webster, he 
became Secretary of State; and in 1853, the Legislature of Massachusetts 
chose him as member of the Senate of the United States. He died in Jan¬ 
uary, 1865. Mr. Everett’s principal works are: “ A Defence of Christianity ” 
(1814); “Orations and Speeches on Various Occasions from 1825 to 1836” 
(1836); and “Orations and Speeches on Various Occasions from 1825 to 
1850.” This includes all the previous orations. These “ Orations,” as they 
are called, are upon all subjects, and indicate a varied, vigorous, and flexi¬ 
ble genius. 


EDWARD EVERETT. 


James Fenimore Cooper. —The celebrated novelist, James Fenimore 
Cooper, was born at Burlington, New Jersey, September 15, 1789. Having 






BIOGRAPHY. 


31 



received his early education from a private tutor, he, at the age of thirteen, 
passed to Yale College, and after three years’ study there, entered the 
American navy as a midshipman. He remained six years at sea, gathering 
the experience of which he was afterwards to make such good use in his 
novels. On his retirement from the sea in 1811, he married; and the next 
ten years of his life were spent in a quiet, domestic fashion. In 1821 ap¬ 
peared his first work, “Precaution,” a novel that afforded no indication 
whatever of the talent he subsequently exhibited. In the following year, 
however, he published “ The 
Spy,” a tale which at once 
secured for him a place in the 
first rank of novelists. By 
not a few critics he was even 
elevated to a higher pedestal 
than that which Scott occu¬ 
pied; but time sobered their 
judgment, while it still left 
him a deservedly high posi¬ 
tion as a writer of fiction. In 
quick succession followed 
“ The Pioneers,” “ The Pilot,” 

“ The Last of the Mohicans,” 

“ The Bed Bover,” and “ The 
Prairie,” with which Cooper’s 
genius culminated; for though 
between this date (1827) and 
1850 he wrote about twenty- 
six different works, none of 
them equalled in merit those 
we have mentioned. The se¬ 
cret of Cooper’s success as a 
novelist lies in his graphic 
descriptive powers, and his 
thorough knowledge of the 
matters he describes, whether 
it be the boundless ocean or 
the broad prairie, together with an attentive study of character. Not a lit¬ 
tle of his popularity in America, however, must be attributed to his nation¬ 
ality; and in Europe a good deal of it was owing to the freshness of the 
scenes in which his stories were laid. About 1827, Cooper visited Europe, 
where he remained several years; the fruits of his sojourn, besides novels, 
being some ten volumes of sketches of European society. Many of his works 
have been translated into most modern languages, and one —“ The Spy 
can be read in Persian. He died at Cooperstown, in the State of New York, 
September 4, 1851. 


JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. 


Washington Irving 1 . —This distinguished American author was born 
in the city of New York, April 3,1783. At the age of sixteen he entered a 
law office; but he profited largely by his father’s well-stocked library, Chau¬ 
cer and Spenser being his favorite authors. New York, at this period, was 
a small town of about 50,000 inhabitants, many of whom were descendants of 
the original Dutch settlers, having quaint manners and customs, of which 
Irving was a curious observer. In 1807, he contributed a series of genial and 



32 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

humorous essays to a periodical called Salmagundi. In 1809, he wrote “ A 
History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the 
Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrick Knickerbocker.” Having no inclination for law, 
he engaged in commerce with his brothers as a silent partner, but devoted 
his time to literature, and in 1813 edited the Analectic Magazine , in Phila¬ 
delphia. At the close of the war in 1815, he visited England. While ho was 
enjoying his English visit, his commercial house failed, and he was suddenly 
reduced to poverty, and the necessity of writing for his bread. The “ Sketch 


Book,” which soon after ap¬ 
peared, was received with 
great favor. Irving went to 
Paris, and in 1822 wrote 
“ Bracebridge Hall,” and in 
1824 the “ Tales of a Traveler.” 
He was then invited by Ever¬ 
ett, the American ambassador 
to Spain, to accompany him to 
Madrid to translate documents 
connected with the life of Co¬ 
lumbus. With these materials 
he wrote his “History of the 
Life and Yoyages of Colum¬ 
bus ” (1828); “ Yoyages of 
the Companions of Columbus;” 
“The Conquest of Granada;” 
“The Alhambra” (1832), a 
portion of which was written 
in the ancient palace of the 
Moorish kings; “ Legends of 
the Conquest of Spain ” (1835); 
and ‘ ‘ Mahomet and his Suc¬ 
cessors ” (1849). In 1829, he 
returned to England as Sec¬ 
retary to the American Lega- 



WASHINGTON IRVING. 


tion. In 1831, he received the honorary degree of LL. D. from the univer¬ 
sity of Oxford; and next year returned to America, where he was welcomed 
■with great enthusiasm. A visit to the Rocky Mountains produced his “ Tour 
on the Prairies.” He also contributed sketches of Abbotsford and Newstead 
Abbey to the “ Crayon Miscellany,” and from the papers of John Jacob Astor, 
wrote “ Astoria ” (1837), and the “ Adventures of Captain Bonneville;” also 
a series of stories and essays in the Knickerbocker Magazine , collected under 
the title bf “ Wolfert’s Roost.” In 1842, he was appointed Minister to Spain. 
In 1846 was published his “Life of Goldsmith;” and his great work, the 
“ Life of Washington,” was published in 1855—1859. He spent the last years 
of his life at Sunny side, in his own “ Sleepy Hollow,” on the banks of the 
Hudson, near Tarrytown, with his nieces, where he died suddenly of disease 
of the heart, November 28, 1859. He was never married. 

Abraham Lincoln.—The sixteenth President of the United States, 
Abraham Lincoln, was born in Kentucky, February 12, 1809. His grand¬ 
father was an emigrant from Virginia; his father, a poor farmer, who, in 
1806, removed from Kentucky to Indiana. In the rude life of the back- 
woods, Lincoln’s entire schooling did not exceed one year, and he was em- 




BIOGRAPHY. 


33 


ployed in the severest agricultural labor. He lived with his family in Spen¬ 
cer County, Indiana, till 1830, when he removed to Illinois, where, with an¬ 
other man, he performed the feat of splitting 3,000 rails in a day, which gave 
him the popular sobriquet of “ the Railsplitter.” In 1834, he was elected to 
the Illinois Legislature. At this period, he lived by surveying land, wore 
patched homespun clothes, and spent his leisure hours in studying law. He 
was three times re-elected to the Legislature; was admitted to practice law 
in 1836; and removed to Springfield, the State capital. In 1844, he canvassed 
the State for Mr. Clay, then nomi¬ 
nated for President. Mr. Clay 
was defeated, but the popularity 
gained by Lincoln in the canvass 
secured his own election to Con¬ 
gress in 1846, where he voted 
against the extension of slavery; 
and in 1854 was a recognized 
leader in the newly-formed Re¬ 
publican party. In 1855, he can¬ 
vassed the State as a candidate for 
United States Senator, against Mr. 

Douglas, but without success. 

In 1856, he was an active sup¬ 
porter of Mr. Fremont in the Pres¬ 
idential canvass which resulted in 
the election of Mr. Buchanan. 

In 1860, he was nominated for the 
Presidency by the Chicago Con¬ 
vention. The non-extension of 
slavery to the Territories or new 
States to be formed from them, 

■was the most important principle 
of his party. There were three 
other candidates, but Mr. Lincoln 
received a majority of votes over 
any of the other candidates. He 
was inaugurated March 4, 1861. His election by a sectional vote and on a 
sectional issue hostile to the South, was followed by the secession of eleven 
Southern States, and a war for the restoration of the union. As a military 
measure, he proclaimed, January 1, 1863, the freedom of all slaves in the 
rebel States; and was re-elected to the Presidency in 1864. The war was 
brought to a close, April 2, 1865; and on the 15th of the same month Lincoln 
was cut off by the hand of an assassin. He was characterized by a strong 
sense of duty and great firmness. 

Horace Greeley.— The great American journalist, Horace Greeley, was 
bom at Amherst, New Hampshire, February 3, 1811. His father was a 
farmer of small means; and Horace, after acquiring the rudiments of educa¬ 
tion at a common school, entered a printing office as an apprentice in 1825, 
at Putney, Vermont. On the completion of his apprenticeship, he removed 
to New York City and worked for some time as a journeyman printer, and in 
1834 commenced the publication of the New Yorker, a literary weekly paper, 
for which he wrote essays, poetry, and other articles. After one or two 
other essays at editorship, he began in 1841 the New York Tribune, of which 



U CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



he was the leading editor until a short time previous to his doath. As Mr. 
Greeley had adopted, to some extent, the social theories of Fourier, he was 
joined hy the most able writers of that school of Socialism, and the paper 
was published as a joint-stock concern, being held in shares by its writers 
and others engaged in its publication. The Tribune has been an earnest ad¬ 
vocate of temperance, woman’s rights, the abolition of slavery and capital 
punishment, and other reforms, and is recognized as the organ of the Be- 
publican party. In 1848, Mr. Greeley was elected to Congress from one of 

the districts of New York, 
for the short term, but 
failed in his congressional 
career by agitating an un¬ 
welcome reform in the mile¬ 
age payments to members. 
In 1851 he visited Europe, 
and was chairman of one 
of the committees cf the 
great exhibition. His as¬ 
pirations to political posi¬ 
tion were defeated by the 
more conservative party 
leaders, and he, in turn, is 
supposed to have secured 
the election of Mr. Lin¬ 
coln, instead of Mr. Seward, 
in 1860. On the secession 
of the Southern States from 
the Union, Mr. Greeley at 
first advocated their right 
to secede, in accordance 
with the principles of the 
Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence; but when the war be¬ 
gan, he became one of its 
most zealous advocates, 
and is supposed to have 
caused the premature ad¬ 
vance that resulted in the defeat of Bull’s Bun, July 21, 1861. In 1872, he 
was a candidate for the Presidency, being nominated by the “ Liberal ” Be- 
publican party of that period, and endorsed by the Democratic party, but 
was defeated by his opponent, General Grant. He died the same year. He 
is the author of “ The American Conflict,” “Essays on Political Economy,” 
“ Becollections of a Busy Life,” “ What I Know About Farming,” and ether 
popular works. 


HORACE GREELEY. 


Thurlow Weed.— From the most humble origin Thurlow Weed rose 
by slow degrees until he became one of the leading journalists of tho United 
States and the greatest political leader of his time. He was born at Cairo, 
Greene County, New York, November 15, 1797. His parents were poor, 
and his opportunities of procuring an education very limited. At the age of 
ten years he was cabin-boy on a sloop on the Hudson Biver; at twelve he 
was an apprentice in the printing office of Mr. Croswell, at Catskill; he then 
lived for a short time in a backwoods settlement, but at fourteen returned 


BIO G11APIIY. 


36 



to printing. In early life he was singularly uncouth and awkward in ap¬ 
pearance, so much so that ho frequently excited the ridicule of his associ¬ 
ates. When the war of 1812 began, young Weed volunteered into the Amer¬ 
ican army. At his majority he owned a newspaper. In 1826 and 1827 he 
was engagod in editing the Anli-Masonic Enquirer. Twice elected to the 
Assembly of the Empire State, he never afterwards accepted a political po¬ 
sition, however important, 
honorable or remunerative. 

Mr. Weed was a clever party 
manager, and is given a large 
share of the credit due to the 
men who secured the election 
of De Witt Clinton as Gov¬ 
ernor of New York. In 1830 
he settled at Albany, and com¬ 
menced the publication of the 
Evening Journal , an anti-Jack- 
son, Whig, or Republican pa¬ 
per, which became the organ 
of the party, and of the State 
government when its party 
was in power. He is sup¬ 
posed to have exercised al¬ 
most supreme influence in 
nominations and appoint¬ 
ments, and to have secured 
the choice of Presidents Har¬ 
rison and Taylor. Through¬ 
out his whole career he was 
the friend and adviser of Mr. 

Seward, and he was also a 
member of the famous polit¬ 
ical firm of Seward, Weed & 

Greeley. When Mr. Weed 
visited Europe in 1861, he was 
received with marked distinc¬ 
tion, due to a prominent jour¬ 
nalist, politician and diplo- thublow weed. 

matist. He retired from the 

Albany Evening Journal in 1862, but so lately as 1880 contributed to its col¬ 
umns in the shape of an article recording his half a century’s connection 
with public life. He was connected both with the New York Times and the 
Commercial Advertiser in tho later years of his career. Mr. Weed was the 
author of a volume of letters addressed from Europe and the W T est Indies, 
and of an interesting and valuable book on his personal reminiscences. He 
died in New York City in the year 1882. 


Wendell Phillips _The great Anti-Slavery agitator, Wendell Phil¬ 

lips, was born in Boston, November 29, 1811, and was the son of the first 
Mayor of that city. He was educated at Harvard, where he was graduated 
in tho year 1831. He studied law at the Cambridge Law School, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1834, one year after his graduation there. He prac¬ 
ticed his profession until J839 ? when he retired in consequence of his unwill- 






36 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



ingness to be bound by an oath of fidelity to the Constitution, as at that time 
construed by the supreme court. At a meeting in Faneuil Hall, Boston, 
in December, 1837, in an impromptu speech of great eloquence, he made his 
first public appearance as a reformer, and from that time he became known 
to the public as a prominent agitator in the Anti-Slavery, Temperance, and 

Woman’s Bights reforms. 
During the early stage of 
the civil war, he advocated 
the emancipation of the 
slaves in a wonderfully ener¬ 
getic and eloquent man¬ 
ner, and after this reform 
■was accomplished continued 
a member of the Anti-Slavery 
Society, which was not dis¬ 
solved until 1870. Mr. Phil¬ 
lips had been its President 
continuously as the immedi¬ 
ate successor of William 
Lloyd Garrison. In 1870 he 
was the candidate of the “ La¬ 
bor-Reform ” party for Gov¬ 
ernor of Massachusetts. He 
strenuously opposed the pol¬ 
icy of President Hayes to¬ 
wards the Southern States, 
and his views on the Irish 
and other political and social 
questions are well known. He 
published many pamphlets 
upon the subjects which so 
engrossed his thoughts. In 
1863 was published an edi¬ 
tion of Iris speeches, lectures 
and letters. For finished and 
impressive address, elegance and grace of delivery, he was incomparable 
among the orators of his time. He died in 1884, at the age of seventy-three 
years. 


WENDELL PHILLIPS. 


Henry Ward Beecher. —No man in th6 United States has been writ¬ 
ten about more than Henry Ward Beecher, but the main facts of his life are 
told in a few words. He is a native of Litchfield, Connecticut, where he was 
born on the 24th of June, 1813. His father v r as the sturdy Rev. Dr. Lyman 
Beecher, v r ho rose from the anvil to be the leader of orthodoxy in New Eng¬ 
land. The future pastor of Plymouth Church was graduated at Amherst in 
1834. He studied theology at Lane Seminary, and in 1837 became pastor of 
a church at Lawrenceburg. In 1839 he accepted a call to Indianapolis, 
where he remained eight years, after which Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, 
became the scene of his distinguished efforts as a preacher. Before the war 
Mr. Beecher was long distinguished among the opponents of slavery. Dur¬ 
ing its progress he visited Great Britain as a representative of the Union 
eause, where his eloquence assisted the efforts of the journalists, religious 
teachers and other persons who took the same view of the struggle as he 



BIOGRAPHY. 


87 

did. Jealousy of the rapid prosperity of this country, the dislike of British 
manufacture's to our protective system, their business relations with the 
planters of the South, the interests of the aristocracy, who foresaw mischief 
to their privileges in the success of popular government, and, on the part of 
many who were disposed to side with the Union, their non-apprehension of 
the reason which delayed the abolition of slavery, may be mentioned as 
among the causes which led to an unfriendly attitude of Great Britain towards 
the Northern cause at the 
time of the war, when, on 
the other hand, the non¬ 
conformist and radical sec¬ 
tion of its people favored it. 

Mr. Beecher met ivith oppo¬ 
sition in his mission, and 
with great kindness as well. 

His oratorical gifts were at 
their best, and he returned 
after a campaign which did 
great credit to his abilities 
and proved of much value 
to the cause he promoted. 

As a preacher and lecturer 
the subject of this sketch 
takes the highest rank, and 
as a writer enjoys distinc¬ 
tion. His versatility is 
wonderful, his liberality of 
thought and sentiments not 
less extraordinary. His per¬ 
sonal appearance and the 
peculiar fascination of his 
address, whether in private 
or public, are so well known 
that nothing need to be said 
of them here. While opin¬ 
ion is divided as to the effect 

of his life and teaching, critics, both friendly and unfriendly, are at one in re¬ 
garding Beecher as a great man. 

Charles Sumner. —This famous American statesman was born at 
Boston, Massachusetts, January 6, 1811. His father was a lawyer, and for 
many years sheriff of the county. He was educated at Harvard College, 
where he graduated in 1830; studied law at the Cambridge Law School; was 
admitted to the Bar in 1834, and entered upon a large practice; edited the 
American Jurist; published three volumes of Sumner’s “ Beports of the 
Circuit Court of the United States;” gave lectures at the Law School, but 
declined a proffered professorship; and from 1837 to 1840, visited England 
and the continent of Europe. On his return, he edited Yesey’s “ Beports,” 
in twenty volumes, and in 1845, made his debut in politics in a 4th of July 
oration on the “ True Grandeur of Nations ”—an oration directed against 
the war with Mexico, pronounced by Mr. Cobden the noblest contribution by 
any modern writer to the cause of peace. Identifying himself with the Free- 
soil party, he was, in 1850, chosen United States Senator from Massachusetts, 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 



38 CYCLOPAEDIA OE TTSEEVL KNOWLEDGE. 

in place of Daniel Webster, where he opposed the Fugitive Slave law, and de¬ 
clared “ freedom national—slavery sectional.” In 1856, he made a two days’ 
speech on “ The Crime Against Kansas,” some of which was of a violent 
personal character, in consequence of which he was attacked in the Senate 
Chamber, May 2‘2d, and severely beaten by Preston C. Brooks, and so 
severely injured that his labors were suspended three cr four years, during 
which he visited Europe for repose and health. Returning to the Senate, 
he supported the election of Mr. Lincoln, urged upon him the Proclamation 

of Emancipation, and became 
the leader of the Senate, as 
chairman of the Committee 
on Foreign Relations. In 1862 
he was again elected a Sena¬ 
tor, and re-elected in 1869. 
In 1871 he opposed the annex¬ 
ation of Hayti to the United 
States. He published “ White 
Slavery in the Barbary 
States” (1853), “ Orations and 
Speeches” (1850), etc. He 
died in 1874. 

Charles Dickens.—The 

great English novelist and 
humorist, Charles Dickens, 
was born at Landport, in 
Hampshire, in February, 
1812. His father, Mr. John 
Dickens, was employed for 
some years in the Navy 
Pay Department, but at the 
conclusion of the war with 
France was pensioned, and 
became a parliamentary reporter. In this pursuit his son was soon dis¬ 
tinguished for uncommon ability, and after a literary engagement, at a very 
early age, upon The True Sun , he became connected with The Morning 
Chronicle. In this newspaper he gave the first evidence of his talents in the 
lively essays entitled “ Sketches by Boz,” published in 1836. Encouraged 
by their success he next produced the famous “ Pickwick Papers,” which 
had an enormous commercial success and began an era in English literature, 
being the first of a series of fictitious works exhibiting the life and manners 
of the middle and lower classes, which up to that time had had scarcely any 
exponent. Mr. Dickens’s fame was now thoroughly established upon both 
sides of the Atlantic, and each new work as it emanated from his pen was 
read with eager interest. In due season appeared “ Nicholas Nicklebv,” 
“ Hard Times,” “ The Old Curiosity Shop,” “ Bamaby Rudge,” “ A Tale of 
Two Cities,” “DavidCopperfield,” “MartinChuzzlewit,” “American Notes,” 
“Dombey and Son,” “Bleak House,” “Little Dorrit,” “Great Expecta¬ 
tions,” “ Oliver Twist,” “ Christmas Stories,” and “ Our Mutual Friend.” 
At the time of his death, June 9, 1870, he was engaged upon a novel entitled 
“ The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” which was left unfinished. Mr. Dickens 
visited America in 1842 and again in 1867, giving numerous readings and 
meeting with a brilliant reception. 



CHAKLES DICKENS. 


biography. 


so 



. William Cullen Bryant—This famous poet and journalist, was born 
m Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, on November 3, 1794. 
He was the son of a physician, a gentleman of culture, who took great pride 
in his promising son, whose poetic talents were early made manifest. At the 
early age of ten he made 
translations from some of 
the Latin poets and con¬ 
tributed rhymes to the lo¬ 
cal newspapers. When 
scarcely thirteen years 
of age he wrote a terse 
and vigorous political 
poem entitled “ The Em¬ 
bargo.” At eighteen he 
composed his “Thanatop- 
sis,” a poem full ol beauty 
and usually regarded as 
the greatest literary pro¬ 
duction of his life. In 1810 
Mr. Bryant entered Wil¬ 
liams’ College, and choos¬ 
ing the law as a profession, 
was admitted to the Bar 
five years later. He prac¬ 
ticed for ten years with 
diligence and success, 
first at Plainfield and af¬ 
terward at Great Barring¬ 
ton, but his tastes inclined 
toliterature, andinl825ho 
went to New York, where 
he became associated with 
Richard H. Dana as edi¬ 
tor of the New York Re¬ 
view. In 1826 he became 

principal editor of The mim craa bbub. 

Evening Post, one of the 


leading evening papers of the metropolis, which he conducted with rare 
ability. The first collected edition of his poems appeared in 1832. They 
were soon after republished in Great Britain, and were regarded as the 
highest efforts, up to that time, of the American Muse. In 1842 he published 
“ The Fountain, and other Poems.” Mr. Bryant visited Europe in 1834, and 
several times afterwards, and records his observations in “Letters of a 
Traveler in Europe and America.” In 1858 appeared a new edition of his 
poetical works, and in 1869, a metrical translation of the “ Iliad,” followed 
in 1871 by that of “ Odyssey.” He afterwards engaged in writing a “ History 
of the United States.” He died June 12, 1878. 


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.— The subject of this sketch was 
the most popular of American poets. Mr. Longfellow was born at Portland, 
Maine, on the 27th of February, 1807. His father was an attorney at law. In 
1821 he entered Bowdoin College, and was graduated therein four years 
later, He then read law a few months in his father’s office, a pursuit which, 



40 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL PPfOWLPLCP. 

happily, he did not continue, friends who knew his genius, by acquaintance 
with his college life, providing him the opportunity of an occupation more 
congenial. They offered him the position of Professor of Modern Languages 
at Bowdoin, one entirely proper to his bent. To qualify himself the better 
for its duties, Mr. Longfellow spent the three years and a half immediately 
succeeding his acceptance of the offer, in Europe, visiting France, Spain, Italy, 
Germany, Holland and England for this purpose. He came home in 1829, 

and began his professorship 
at Bowdoin, which continued 
until 1835, when the death 
of Mr. George Ticknor, who 
held the corresponding po¬ 
sition in Harvard University, 
resulted in his acceptance 
of the vacant professorship 
in that eminent seat of learn¬ 
ing. Before actually enter¬ 
ing upon its duties, he again 
went to Europe, this time 
visiting the Scandinavian 
countries, Germany and 
Switzerland, mainly with the 
view of promoting his ac¬ 
quaintance with the litera¬ 
ture of Northern Europe. 
In the autumn of 1836, he 
began to teach in Harvard, 
and continued there eigh¬ 
teen years, when he was suc¬ 
ceeded by James Bussell 
Lowell. Mr. Longfellow’s 
career as an author dated 
from his undergraduate 
days, during which he con¬ 
tributed poetry to the col¬ 
umns of The United States 
Literary Gazette. While at 
Bowdoin some able pieces of literary criticism, the products of his fertile 
pen, were printed in The North Amei'ican Remew. His first volume of 
poems was published in 1833, and thereafter, at not infrequent intervals, a 
new volume appeared, always welcomed with pleasure by a large constitu¬ 
ency of admiring, loving readers. There is no occasion whatever to detail 
the numerous productions of his pen. Perhaps “ Evangeline ” and “ Miles 
Standish ” are the best known of his longer pieces. In the writer’s opinion, 
his most effective work is seen in some of his lyrics, which are perfect in 
their construction and pervaded with sweetness, pensive tenderness and 
humanity. They are carried in the memory of thousands on both sides of 
the Atlantic, and are gems which permanently enrich the literature of na¬ 
tions. Mr. Longfellow’s poetry is not characterized by strength or great¬ 
ness, but by gentleness, sweetness and refinement, the product of vast labor, 
but free from pedantry and affectation. He gave eloquent and simple voice 
to the convictions and emotions of good, every-day kind of people. He died 
March 24, 1882. 



BIOGRAPHY. 41 

Ralph Waldo Emerson.—The famous “sage of Concord” was the 
son of a Unitarian minister. He was born in Boston, May 25, 1803. During 
the four years from 1817 to 1821, he studied at Harvard College, where he 
was graduated. It is told of him that he was not a model student, in the 
sense of superiority in the matter of performing set work, but he was a great 
reader and followed a decided personal judgment in his choice of books. 
Like many other great men, he started life as a teacher, which he did not 
follow long, but relinquished for the study of theology—an ancestral pur¬ 
suit, by the way, for it is 
recorded that there was al¬ 
ways a clergyman in the 
American branch of the 
family from the time when 
Concord was founded, back 
in the seventeenth century. 

For three years, from 1829 
to 1832, he ministered 
thought to a congregation in 
Boston, but resigned when 
his people and he had grown 
hopelessly at variance in 
their conceptions of religion. 

Retiring to Concord, where 
he lived to the end, Mr. 

Emerson devoted himself to 
a life of letters, producing a 
considerable number of 
books in prose and poetry 
and lecturing in this coun¬ 
try and abroad as solicited 
by demand for his utter¬ 
ances. He never cultivated 
popularity as a speaker, but 
his voice was, at one period 
of his life, heard frequently 
on the question of slavery, 
womens’ rights and other subjects of current and particular interest. Mr. 
Emerson made his first address as a literary man, in 1837, at Harvard, on 
“ Man Thinking.” An address on “Literary Ethics,” to the Divinity School 
of the same University, was his next effort, delivered a year after the first. 
In 1810, he started a magazine called The Dial, which taught the “ tran¬ 
scendental philosophy,” at that time greatly exercising the keen wits of New 
England. This publication lived four years. In 1841, Emerson published 
his “ Method of Nature,” “ Man the Reformer,” a volume of “ Essays,” and 
several lectures. His first volume of poems appeared in 1846, in which 
year two series of “Essays” were also published. Three years after, he 
visited England, where he delivered a course of lectures on “ Representa¬ 
tive Men.” In 1852, associated with W. H. Channing and J. F. Clarke, he 
published a biography of Margaret Fuller, who, with A. Bronson Alcott, 
had assisted him in the conduct of The Dial. “ English Traits,” perhaps 
the most read of his books, was published in 1856, and “ The Conduct of 
Life,” in 1860. These are his principal works. Mr. Emerson’s style is 
peculiar, possessing affectations and conceits which mar the pleasure of 





42 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


the average reader. His poetry is deeply tender and beautiful, ne died 
April 27, 1882. 



John G. Whittier.—John Greenleaf Whittier was born at Haverhill, 
Mass., in 1807. He is a descendant of a family belonging to the Society of 
Friends, with which Mr. Whittier is also connected, and from which fact he 
has gained the name of the “ Quaker Poet.” His earlier years were spent 
on his father’s farm, and in the occupation of a shoemaker. A strong desire 

for learning led him to the 
local academy for a two years’ 
course of study, and in 1829 he 
went to Boston and became 
the editor of the American 
Manufacturer , a protective 
tariff publication. In 1830 he 
edited the New England Re¬ 
view , at Hartford, Conn., from 
which place his first literary 
efforts were sent out. In 1835 
and 1836 he represented his 
native town in the Massachu¬ 
setts Legislature, and was one 
of the Secretaries of the 
American Anti-Slavery Socie¬ 
ty, and during the same years 
was editor of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Freeman , in Philadel¬ 
phia. In 1840, he removed to 
Amesbury, Mass., and em¬ 
ployed a portion of his time as 
corresponding editor of the 
National Era , an anti-slavery 
paper, published at Washing¬ 
ton, D. C. From that time 
until now, his life has been 
devoted to literature and 
philanthropy. His first ven¬ 
ture, in a literary way, was 
published in the Newburyport 
Free Press, in 1826. He is a 
prolific writer, and his prose has been widely circulated. He is a thor¬ 
ough American poet, selecting the home subjects, which find a welcome in 
every heart, and portraying with graphic word pictures the bright side of 
human life. There is never an exceptional line in Whittier’s poems. They 
may lack the perfection of idea and expression which characterize the 
shorter lyrics of Longfellow; they may lack the humor of Holmes, and the 
polish of Tennyson, yet they have a quaint simplicity, which gives him an 
individuality entirely his own. The general impression of Whittier is one of 
simplicity and quiet quaintness, yet, at times, he bursts forth with a fire and 
energy which seem to spring from the intermingling of his very life-blood, 
the out-pouring of his soul, in his ardor and enthusiasm. Whittier may not 
be ranked by critics among the great poets of the world, but it is for but 
few to hold the love which he holds from the people of his native land. 


JOHN G. WHITTIEK. 




MOGRA PITY. 


Alfred Tennyson. —Tlie Poet Laureate of England was born at 
Somersby, Lincolnshire, in the year 1809. He was the third son of the Rev. 
G. C. Tennyson, and nephew of the Right Hon. C. Tennyson d’Eyncourt. 
Trinity College, Cambridge, had the honor of being the place of education 
of the future poet. The story of Tennyson’s life can be little else than the 
story of his successive poems. Bibliomaniacs are eager to give a high price 
for the little anonymous volume of “Poems by Two Brothers” (1827), the 
earliest published verses of Alfred and Charles Tennyson. In 1830 appeared 

(l Pofim» Chiefly Luri ca l ” oml _ 

from that date on Tennyson’s 
fameasapoetgrewrapidly. The 
“ Mort d’Arthur,” “ Locksley 
Hall,” the “May Queen,” and 
“Two Voices” followed each 
other in quick succession. Of 
the “Idylls of the King,” of 
which the “Mort d’Arthur” 
was the first, it may be said 
that while students of the old 
Welsh legends and of the 
ancient French Arthurian ro¬ 
mances find much to cavil at, 
the general reader is intro¬ 
duced to a new and magical 
world of lofty thought and 
poetry. In 1847 was printed 
“ The Princess,” Tennyson’s 
first long poem. “In Me- 
moriam,” the laureate’s great¬ 
est poem, was suggested by 
the death of young Arthur Hal- 
lam. It is a series of marvel¬ 
ously touching monodies, is 
resplendent with religious and 
philosophical speculation, and 
was the work of many years. 

The death of Wordsworth 
(1850) left it almost a matter of 
course that to Tennyson should 
be offered “ the laurel greener 
from the brows of him who uttered nothing base.” Such noble poems as 
that on the death of the Prince Consort and the famous “ Charge of the 
Light Brigade ” show that the laureate did not consider his office an idle 
honor. Of Tennyson’s other chief poems, “ Maud ” was printed in 1855; the 
first series of the “Idylls of the King” in 1859; “Enoch Arden and Other 
Poems ” in 1864; “The Holy Grail and Other Poems” in 1869; a revised 
edition of the “Idylls,” arranged in sequence, in 1870; and “ The Widow ” 
in the same year. His recent short poems—he now writes but little—are 
inferior to his best work. Like more than one great poet he has proved the 
delusiveness of the belief that a great poet must be also a great dramatist. 
“Queen Mary, a Drama” (1875), and “Harold” (1877), both tragedies in 
five acts, have some powerful passages, but as acting plays are dreary 
failures. Tennyson was married in 1851 to Miss Emily Sell wood. Before 


ALFRED TENNYSON. 


44 CYCLOPEDIA OF VSEFVL KNOWLFD GE. 

that time he had lived chiefly in London; since he has resided at Farring* 
ford, Isle of Wight, at Aldworth in Surrey, and near Petersfield, Hampshire. 
He has two children. 

Herbert Spencer _The famous English evolutionist, Herbert 

Spencer, was born in Derby in 1820. He was educated by his father, W. G. 
Spencer, a teacher, chiefly of mathematics, and his uncle, the Rev. Thomas 
Spencer, a clergyman of the established church, well-known for his liberal 

opinions on political and 
ecclesiastical questions. At 
the age of seventeen, he be¬ 
came a civil engineer; but 
after about eight years, 
abandoned the profession, in 
consequence of the large in¬ 
flux of young men brought 
into it during the railway 
mania, and the consequent 
undue competition. During 
the eight years of his engi¬ 
neering life, he contributed 
various papers to the Civil 
Engineer’’s and Architect's 
Journal. His first produc¬ 
tions in general literature 
were in the shape of a series 
of letters on the “ Proper 
Sphere of Government,” 
published in the Noncon¬ 
formist newspaper in 1842, 
which were some time after 
reprinted as a pamphlet. 
From the close of 1848 to the 
middle of 1853, he was en¬ 
gaged on the Economist , then 
edited by the late James 
Wilson, M. P.; and during 
this time he published his first considerable work, “Social Statics.” Shortly 
afterward he began to write for the quarterly reviews, most of his articles 
appearing in the Westminster , and others in the North British, British 
Quarterly , Edinburgh, Medico-chirurgical, etc. In 1855, appeared his 
“ Principles of Psychology.” In 1860 he commenced a connected series of 
philosophical works, designed to unfold in their natural order the principles 
of biology, psychology, sociology and morality. To this series belong, besides 
the “Psychology ” (2 vols., new edition 1871—1872), “First Principles” 
(1862, second edition, 1867); “ Principles of Biology” (two vols., 1864), and 
“ Principles of Sociology ” (first vol., 1876). “ Education ” was published in 
1861; “The Study of Sociology” in 1872; and “Descriptive Sociology” in 
1873. Spencer has applied universally, and carried out into detail, the 
theory of evolution. 

William E. Gladstone.— An outline of the public career of William 
E. Gladstone, Prime Minister of England, is soon given, although he has 



HERBERT SPENCER. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


45 



assisted in the making of history for nearly half a century, and is, in some 
respects, the most remarkable, if not the greatest, man in Europe. He was 
bom December 29, 1809, at Liverpool, an Englishman by birth, but Scotch 
in blood. His father was a merchant of considerable eminence and wealth. 
Great pains were taken in the education of a lad singularly studious and 
ambitious. Before attaining the age of twenty-two, the future statesman 
graduated at the University of Oxford. This was in the year 1831, preceding 
by a twelve-month only his entrance upon public life as member of Parlia¬ 
ment for Newark-on-Trent. 

Gladstone was an ardent Con¬ 
servative at that time, and 
his first book was a defence 
of the union of Church and 
State—a "remarkable work 
which Macaulay reviewed in 
the Edinburgh Review, with 
appreciation of its spirit and 
scholarly style, but condemn¬ 
ing its conclusion. Newark 
continued Mr. Gladstone as 
her representative until 
1845. During the thirteen 
years of this association, 
hopeful honors had fallen 
on the head of the youthful 
Commoner, “handsome 
Gladstone,” as he was called. 

He was only twenty-five when 
Sir .Robert Peel made him a 
Junior Lord of the Treasury. 

Three months later, he was 
promoted to be an Under 
Secretary for the Colonies, 
which position he held until 
April, 1835, when Peel went 
out of office. Upon the return of Sir Robert to power, in 1841, Mr. Glad¬ 
stone was made Yice-President of the Council and Master of the Mint, in 
1843, he relinquished the first-named of these offices in order to assume that 
of President of the Board of Trade. Two years afterward ho was made 
Secretary for the Colonies. In 1851 Mr. Gladstone differed so widely from 
his party in opinion, that he was no longer numbered in the Conservative 
ranks. He was a member of the coalition ministry of Lord Aberdeen formed 
in the year 1852, that same ministry which, in alliance with France and 
Turkey, undertook the war with Russia. His office was that of Chancellor 
of the Exchequer, for which he showed a marvelous aptitude. In 1858 and 
1859 the subject of this sketch was sent on a special mission to the Ionian 
Islands, and in June, 1859, again served as Chancellor of the Exchequer 
under Lord Palmerston, the Premier, upon whose death and the succeeding 
premiership of Earl Russell he continued to hold the same position, and 
also acted as leader of the House of Commons. In 1866 the Russell-Glad- 


•WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 


stone ministry, as it was called, resigned in consequence of an adverse vote 
on the question of reform in Parliamentary representation, and a Conserva¬ 
tive government assumed office, In 1868, Mr. Disraeli’s government retiring 




46 


CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



because of the election of a Liberal majority to the Commons, Mr. Gladstone 
assumed the premiership for the first time. His great measures, the dis 
establishment and disendowment of the Irish Church and the Irish Land 
Bill, were passed by the year 1870. In 1873, his government was deieated 
on the Irish University-Education Bill, and he resigned, but was persuaded 
by his sovereign to resume office. He served until after the general 
election of 1874, which resulted in the triumph of the Conservatives. Mr. 
Gladstone now retired from the leadership of his party in the House of 

Commons, which was assumed 
by the Marquis of Hartington, 
and devoted himself to liter¬ 
ary labor. The magnificent 
triumph of the Liberals in the 
election of 1880, when Mr. 
Gladstone was elected by Mid- 
Lothian and the borough of 
Leeds, virtually compelled 
his assumption of power as 
the First Lord of the Treas¬ 
ury, to which he added the 
functions of Chancellor of the 
Exchequer. 

Oliver Wendell 

Holmes.— This famous poet 
and humorist was born in 
1809, in the old “gambrel 
roofed ” house in Cambridge, 
Mass., opposite the Harvard 
University buildings. His 
father, Rev. Abiel Holmes, 
D. D., was an eminent 
preacher, and w T as long pas¬ 
tor of the First Congregational 
Church of Cambridge. Dr. 
Oliver wendell holmes. Holmes graduated at Harvard 

in 1829, and, adopting the 
medical profession, completed his studies in 1836. Up to 1847 he filled the 
chair of Anatomy and Physiology at Dartmouth, and in the latter year 
assumed a similar professorship at Harvard, since which he lias resided 
continuously in Boston. It would be difficult to say whether Dr. Holmes 
enjoys greater distinction as a physician or man of letters. Both in the 
theory and practice of medicine, he has achieved the most brilliant success. 
He has especially devoted himself to the. investigation of psychological 
problems, raised by the interdependence of mind and matter, a romance, 
“ Elsie Venner,” dealing with this subject. The success of the Atlantic 
Monthly was largely due to his “ Autocrat of the Breakfast Table ” and 
other prose pieces which he contributed. His graceful and polished style 
invests the driest topics with a peculiar charm, and makes him one of the 
best known and most popular of American writers. Who has not heard of 
the “ One Horse Shay ” ? Though past the allotted three-score and ten 
years, he is still tale and hearty, looking as he has for forty years past. 
Shrewd, observant, reflective, humorous, generous, kindly and tender, he is 





BIOGRAPHY. 


47 


one of those to whom any one could come for help. A genial and cheery 
temperament has made him the idol of the Harvard medical students 
whom he has so long instructed. No man in America is held in higher 
honor than Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose name is an ornament to American 
literature as well as to the medical profession. 



James Russell Lowell_Mr. Lowell is descended from an English 

family who settled in New England in the year 1639. His grandfather was 
made a Judge by Washington after having assisted in framing the Constitu¬ 
tion of Massachusetts in 1780, moved the insertion in the Bill of Bights of 
that State of the clause that 
“ all men are born free and 
equal,” and earned great 
eminence as a lawyer. The 
family of the Lowells gave 
its name to the city of Lo¬ 
well, and has given mer- 
chants, manufacturers, 
authors, preachers, lawyers, 
scholars, philanthropists and 
statesmen to the Bay State. 

Mr. Lowell was born at Cam¬ 
bridge, Mass., February 22, 

1819. He was educated at 
Harvard, and in 1855 suc¬ 
ceeded Mr. Longfellow in the 
Belles-Lettres professorship 
of that college. One of his 
greatest literary perform¬ 
ances was the production of 
the “Biglow Papers.” He 
is the author of several long 
poems which are ranked 
with our best literature, and 
of shorter pieces almost in¬ 
numerable. He is a grace¬ 
ful speaker, and is remark¬ 
able for the polish of his 
utterances whether by pen or voice. He has force and the courage of his 
opinions, which were decidedly on the side of freedom in the anti-slavery 
agitation, but is not an aggressive man, and treats his opponents with self- 
restraint, courtesy, and the quiet dignity of the scholar and gentleman. His 
first diplomatic position was that of Minister to Spain, and his last appoint¬ 
ment as Minister to England was conferred upon him by President Hayes. 


JAMES BUSSELL LOWELL. 


Peter Cooper.—No man was more honored and loved than the vener¬ 
able Peter Cooper, whose death in 1883 was mourned as a public loss. Mr. 
Cooper was born in New York City, February 12,1791. His father served as 
a Lieutenant in the Bevolution, after which he established a hat factory, 
where young Peter worked. In 1808 he was apprenticed to a coachmaker, 
who esteemed him so highly that he offered to start him in business, which 
was declined. Young Peter was able to attend school but half of each day 
for a single year. From 1812 to 1815, he manufactured a patent machine for 




48 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

shearing wool, which was in great demand, but lost its value on the conclu¬ 
sion of peace. He successively engaged in the manufacture of cabinet 
ware, the grocery business and in the manufacture of glue and isinglass, 
which last he continued for more than forty years. The success which 
everywhere crowned his efforts he attributed to his never incurring a debt, 
and so never having interest to pay. His policy was never to owe any man 
anything except his good will. He built iron works near Baltimore in 1830, 
and turned out the first locomotive engine in America. Selling this soon 

after he erected a rolling 
and wire mill, in which an¬ 
thracite coal was first suc¬ 
cessfully applied to pud¬ 
dling iron. In 1845, he 
erected at Trenton, New 
Jersey, the largest mills 
then in the United States 
for the manufacture of rail¬ 
road iron. Here, he was 
the first to roll iron beams 
for building purposes. He 
invested a large capital in 
extending the electric tele¬ 
graph, and advocated the 
construction of the Croton 
Aqueduct, New York. The 
Erie Canal project received 
his hearty support, and he 
invented an endless chain 
operated by water, which 
in trial propelled a boat two 
miles in eleven minutes. 
But his chief title to fame 
rests upon his efforts in be¬ 
half of popular education. 
He was Vice-President of 
the old Public School So¬ 
ciety, when it was merged 
peter cooper. in the Board of Education. 

To give the masses the 
benefits of the School of Technology he established in New York, in 1858, the 
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The building covers 
the block between Seventh and Eighth Streets and Third and Fourth 
Avenues, and cost $2,000,000. To this he added an endowment of $150,000 
in cash, and other gifts. His career shows him to have been one of the 
greatest of Americans and the noblest of men. He learned three trades 
before he was twenty-one; his genius enabled him to rank high as an 
inventor; he was pre-eminently a man of affairs, his knowledge of men 
and business securing success in every venture; and most important 
of all, he was a broad and practical philanthropist, who labored con¬ 
stantly for the elevation and advancement of the masses of the people. His 
son, Edward Cooper, was at one time Mayor of New York, and a daughter 
is the wife of the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, for many years a member of Con¬ 
gress from New l^ork, 



BIOGRAPHY . 


49 



James A. Garfield.—The twentieth President of the United States, 
James A. Garfield, was born in a log cabin in Orange township, Cuyahoga 
County, Ohio, November 19, 1831. His early education was obtained at a 
district school-house, where he learned to read, write and cipher. At the 
age of eighteen he went to Newburgh and chopped one hundred cords ot 
■wood for fifty dollars. He then hired out to drive horses on the canal. The 
following year he went to Geauga Academy, to make a beginning toward 
getting an education. In the summer he worked for day wages as a farm 
hand and at the carpenter’s trade, and in the winter studied industriously 
and lived economically. Prom the Geauga Academy he went to the Eclectic 
Institute at Hiram, Ohio, 
where he paid for his tuition 
by teaching country schools 
in winter. In 1854 he entered 
Williams College, at Williams- 
town, Mass., and after grad¬ 
uating there he became pro¬ 
fessor of Latin and Greek and 
afterward President of the 
Hiram Institute. He now 
began to take part in politics, 
and early espoused the cause 
of the Republican party. He 
was elected to the State Sen¬ 
ate of Ohio in 1859, and after¬ 
ward studying law, was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar in 1861. In 
the same year the civil war 
broke out, and Garfield was 
an early volunteer. He 
served with distinction under 
Buell and Rosecrans at 
Shiloh, Chickamauga and in 
otherimportant engagements, james a. garfield. 

being promoted successively 

to the ranks of Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier-General and Major- 
General. In 1862 he resigned his commission to accept a nomination for 
Congress. He served in the House for nearly twenty years, and became 
recognized as one of the ablest leaders of his party. In January, 1880, he 
was elected to the United States Senate, and in June of the same year he 
was nominated by the Republican party as its candidate for President, to 
which high office he was triumphantly elected in the fall of that year. His 
administration opened most conspicuously, but on the 2d of July, 1881, he 
was assassinated by one Charles J. Guiteau, probably from motives of 
revenge, he having failed to obtain from the President a coveted foreign 
mission. After a long and painful illness Mr. Garfield died at Long Branch, 
N. J., September 19, 1881. 


Ulysses S. Grant.—This famous General and the eighteenth Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, was bom at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, 
Ohio, April 27, 1822. He graduated at the Military Academy of West Point 
in 1843, and served under General Taylor in the war with Mexico, m 1846, 
up to the capture of Monterey. His regiment was then transferred to the 




50 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


expedition under General Scott, and lie took part in every action from Vera 
Cruz to Mexico, and was brevetted First Lieutenant and Captain for meri¬ 
torious conduct at Molino del Rey and Chapultapec. In 1852, lie served in 
Oregon; but, in 1854, resigned liis commission, and settled at St. Louis, Mo., 
whence, in 1859, he moved to Galena, HI., and engaged in the leather trade. 
At the beginning of the War of Secession in 1861, lie volunteered his services, 

and was appointed Colonel of 
an Illinois regiment. In Au¬ 
gust he was appointed Briga¬ 
dier-General, commanding the 
important post of Cairo, occu¬ 
pied Paducah, and led an ex¬ 
pedition on the Mississippi. In 
February, 1862, he distin¬ 
guished himself in the capture 
of Fort Donelson, on the Ten¬ 
nessee Biver, and was made 
Major-General. On the 6th of 
April following, after a pre¬ 
liminary defeat, he won a 
great battle over the Con¬ 
federates at Pittsburgh Land¬ 
ing, or Shiloh. Succeeding 
General Halleck in the west, 
he commanded the land forces 
which, in conjunction with the 
navy, reduced Vicksburg, 
July 4, 1863, soon followed by 
the fall of Fort Hudson, and 
the opening of the Mississippi. 
He then took command of the 
Army of the Tennessee, and 
defeated General Bragg at 
Chickamauga, in September 
of the same year; and was, in 
1864, appointed Lieutenant- 
General and Commander-in- 
XJLYSSES s. GKANT. Chief, and personally directed 

the operations of the great 
final struggle in Virginia, in which the Northern forces, though often 
repulsed with heavy losses, finally compelled the evacuation of Richmond, 
April 2, 1865, followed on the 9th by the surrender of the Confederate army 
under General Lee, and soon after of the entire Confederate forces. Con¬ 
gress, in recognition of' his eminent services, passed an act reviving the 
grade of “General of the Army of the United States,” to which Grant 
was immediately appointed. In 1868 he was elected, on the Republican 
platform, President of the United States; and having, in 1872, been 
re-elected over a notable opponent, the late Horace Greeley, of the New 
York Tribune, he retired in 1877 after his second term of office. In the 
latter year he began his tour around the world, returning in 1880, after 
having been the recipient of unprecedented honors. In 1885, he completed 
bri popular work, “ The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant,” being a narrative 
oi Jjis own experiences during the war of the Rebellion. He died July 23,1885. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


51 



Samuel J. Tilden.— The distinguished Democrat, Samuel J. Tilden, 
was bom in New York City in the year 1814. He entered Yale College, from 
whence he was graduated. Choosing the legal profession he subsequently 
studied law in the University of New York, and was admitted to the bar. 
His advancement, owing to his extraordinary natural gifts, was rapid, and 
he soon acquired a reputation for groat legal acuteness, especially in rail¬ 
road litigation. He soon became interested in local and State politics, and 
was for thirteen years Chairman of the Democratic State Committee of New 
York. He was elected to the 
Legislature in 1846, and in 
1872 this honor was again con¬ 
ferred upon him. Meantime he 
had acquired great wealth 
from the practice of his profes¬ 
sion and many shrewd specu¬ 
lations and investments, being 
one of the leading capitalists 
engagedinbuilding the elevat¬ 
ed railroads in New York City. 

In 1874 Mr. Tilden received 
the nomination for Governor 
of the State of New York, to 
which office he was elected. 

During the two years in which 
he was at the head of the 
State Government he achieved 
great reputation as a reform¬ 
er, breaking up numerous 
corrupt rings, and became at 
once the most prominent man 
in his party. He was nom¬ 
inated for the Presidency in 
1876, Mr. Hendricks, of In¬ 
diana, being the candidate for 
Vice-President. In the elec¬ 
tion which followed Mr. Til¬ 
den received a majority of the 
popular vote, and on the face 
of the returns w'as duly elected. A dispute arose, however, regarding the 
vote in the States of South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida and Oregon, and a 
commission consisting of five Senators, five Judges of the Supreme Court 
and five Members of the House of Representatives, was appointed to deter¬ 
mine the matter. This commission was composed of eight Republican and 
seven Democratic members, and, dividing strictly upon party lines, gave 
the electoral votes of the disputed States to Rutherford B. Hayes, Mr. 
Tilden’s opponent, who was accordingly declared elected. Though fre¬ 
quently urged to again become the standard bearer of his party, Mr. Tilden 
has mingled no more in politics, but has lived in retirement at his palatial 


SAMUEL J. TILDEN. 


residence in Yonkers, N. Y. 


George F. Edmunds.—Senator Edmunds is descended from Quaker 
and Puritanic parentage. He is a Vermonter by birth, having been born at 
Richmond., February 1, 1828. He received a public school education, read 


62 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



law and was admitted to the bar. At twenty-six years of age, he was elected 
to the State Legislature, and continued to assist in its proceedings five 
years, during three of which he served as Speaker of the House. In 1861 
and 1862, he acted as temporary presiding officer in the Senate of Vermont. 
His seat in the United States Senate has been held continuously since 1866, 
when he received an appointment to fill the vacancy created by the death of 
Solomon Foot. He was a member of the Electoral Commission in 1877, and 

succeeded Mr. Trumbull in 
the Chairmanship of the Judi¬ 
ciary Committee. In that 
position some of the most im¬ 
portant measures ever before 
the National Legislature 
passed through his hands. He 
is an able, but not a brilliant 
speaker, and however keen 
and sarcastic his oratorical 
efforts may be, he is never per¬ 
sonally offensive. As a law¬ 
yer, statesman and debater, 
Senator Edmunds ranks 
among the highest. The coun¬ 
try hears from him on all 
great public questions, which 
do not seem to have been 
thoroughly discussed until the 
illumination of his learning, 
cool judgment and perspicu- 
o u s statement have been 
brought to bear upon them. 
He is emphatically a safe man. 
While staunch to his party, he 
is not narrow or unfair, and 
is regarded by the opposite 
party with a respect as nearly 
like the veneration with which 
his own party regards him, as 
george f. edmunds. the circumstances of political 

opposition admits of. He is a 
genial man, warm and constant, in his friendships, as witness his longtime 
brotherly association with Senator Thurman, with whom he was inseparable, 
excepting in the Senate where party lines divided them. That he is a good 
man, against whose fair name calumny would be powerless, needs not to be 
said. In 1880 several leading newspapers strongly urged his nomination for 
the Presidency. Mr. Edmunds is a tall, broad shouldered man with a stoop 
noticeable in close students. His eyes are steel gray set under heavy eye¬ 
brows of bristling white. No public man is more respected. His honors are 
universally felt to be due to his superior talents, exemplary diligence and 
exalted character. 


Allen G. Thurman. —Ex-Senator Allen G. Thurman, of Ohio, a gen¬ 
tleman held in the highest esteem by both political parties, and a statesman 
of learning, experience and lofty character, is a native of the State of Vir- 








BIOGRAPHY. 



ginia. He was bom at Lynchburg, November 13, 1813. When four years 
old his home was changed to the State of Ohio. He received a thorough 
education, studied law, and was admitted to the bar when twenty-two years 
of age. After having practiced law ior some years at Columbus, Ohio, he 
was returned as Representative to the Twenty-ninth Congress. In 1851 he 
was elected a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and was Chief Justice 
in the same court from 1854 to 1856. He was the Democratic candidate for 
the Governorship of the State in 1867, but was defeated. A year later he 
was elected a United States 
Senator, and took his seat 
March 4, 1869. He was re¬ 
elected in 1874, and his sec¬ 
ond term of service expired 
March 3, 1881, when, the 
Legislature of Ohio being 
Republican, he retired to 
private life in his home at 
Columbus. Mr. Thurman’s 
services to his party, as well 
as to the country at large, 
are well known. In the 
Senate he was a warm and 
vigorous advocate of all 
just and prudent measures, 
and a bitter antagonist of 
corruption. He is one of 
the few public men who pos¬ 
sess the confidence and 
esteem of the entire people, 
even those differing with 
him upon questions of po¬ 
litical economy cneerlully 
acknowledging his remark¬ 
able abilities and sterling 
integrity. He has long been 
upon terms of warm in¬ 
timacy with Senator Ed- allen g. thurman. 

munds, of Vermont, though 

the two are widely at variance in political views. He was prominently men¬ 
tioned as the Democratic candidate for President in 1880 and again in 1884, 
and, though Allen G. Thurman may or may not be again called upon to 
serve the country in office, he will always hold a high place in the esteem of 
his countrymen. 


Jolm Sherman.—His record gives the subject of this sketch great 
authority on the question of finance. He is an Ohio man, born at Lancas¬ 
ter on the 10th of May, 1823, in a family of English extraction, whose first 
American ancestry settled in Connecticut and Massachusetts. His father, 
Charles Robert Sherman, was made a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, 
the same year in which John was born, the eighth child of a family of twelve. 
When his father died, John was only six years old, and the widow’s eleven 
surviving children were divided by harsh necessity, only three being left in 
their mother’s care. In 1831, John was taken by a oousin of his father, 


54 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

named John Sherman, to live with him at Mount Vernon. This kinsman had 
him thoroughly prepared for the academy in anticipation of giving him a 
college education. At twelve, young John entered the Academy at Lancas¬ 
ter. We next find him acting as junior rod man in a corps of engineers 
engaged in the Muskingum improvement. In 1838, when only fifteen, he 
was given charge of the works at Beverly. His next move was to study law 
in the office of Charles T. Sherman, an older brother, who was afterwards 

made a Judge of the United 
States District Court. He en¬ 
tered into partnership with 
his brother at Mansfield in 
1844. Four years later, he 
began his political life as dele¬ 
gate to the Whig Convention 
which nominated General 
Taylor for President. In the 
same year, 1848, he married a 
daughter of Judge Stewart, 
of Mansfield. He was dele¬ 
gate to the Baltimore Conven¬ 
tion of 1852, which nominated 
General Scott. His first elec¬ 
tion to Congress was in 1855, 
where he gained distinction 
in committee work. He was 
a supporter of John C. Fre-. 
mont, in 1856, believing that 
the area of slavery should not 
be extended while the exist¬ 
ence of the institution itself 
could not be disturbed in the 
States which supported it. 
Mr. Sherman was elected to 
the Thirty-fifth and Thirty- 
sixth Congresses. When, in 
March, 1861, Salmon P. Chase 
retired from the Senate, John 
Sherman was elected to take 
his place, and was re-elected 
in 1867 and 1873. He was conspicuous for patriotism in the war, spending 
money, time and service in the Federal cause. The making Treasury notes 
a legal tender in 1862 was mainly due to him and Salmon P. Chase. In 
1867, he proposed the Refunding Act, passed in 1870, and the resumption of 
specie payments on January 1,1879, was the leading triumph of his financial 
policy. President Hayes made him Secretary of the Treasury in March, 
1877. Upon retirement from office with the incumbency of President 
Garfield, the veteran financier resumed his seat in the United States 
Senate. 

William M. Svarts.—Both as a lawyer and a statesman Mr. Evarts 
ranks high. Since the death of Charles O’Conor he has been regarded as at 
the head of the American Bar. His career in his profession has been one of 
unfailing diligence and brilliant success. The firm of which he is now the 










BIOGRAPHY. 


55 



head is entrusted with great interests, and realizes enormous fees. As a 
matter of course, opinions differ strongly as to Mr. Evarts’s political views 
and conduct. He was born in Boston, February 6,1818, the son of a clergy¬ 
man of that city. When a child he manifested wonderful precocity, and was 
well grounded in the learned languages very early in life. He is a graduate 
of Yale, and of Harvard in law. In 1841 he was admitted to the Bar in New 
York City, where he continues in active practice. Mr. Evarts was leading 
counsel for President Johnson in the impeachment proceedings of 1868, and 
from July 15 of that year to the end of the Johnson administration was 
Attorney-General of the Uni¬ 
ted States. He represented 
the United States m the 
tribunal of arbitration which 
determined on the Alabama 
Claims at Geneva in 1872. Mr. 

Evarts was chief of counsel 
for Henry Ward Beecher in 
the Tilton-Beecher trial. In 
1876 he was appointed by 
Governor Tilden to serve on 
the Charter Commission. He 
was Secretary of State during 
the administration of Presi¬ 
dent Hayes, after having rep¬ 
resented the Republican party 
in the discussion, before the 
Electoral Commission, of the 
questions on which the Presi¬ 
dency depended. In 1885 he 
was elected to the United 
States Senate. Perhaps n o 
man is better qualified than 
Mr. Evarts to speak on ques¬ 
tions of interest at public 
meetings, and he is much in 

demand on these occasions william m. evarts. 

He is believed to be un¬ 


equalled as a phrase-maker, and seems to be able to talk happily under all 
circumstances. Unfortunately his delivery, graceful and correct as it is, is 
unaccompanied by the power necessary to its perfection. Notwithstanding 
this defect, however, no public man in the United States is heard with 
greater respect and admiration than Mr. Evarts. He is accused of time¬ 
serving, a want of moral courage, and inconsistency in his utterances, but a 
man who has talked so many years can hardly be expected to remain 
in the same mind on every question which has engaged his attention. Mr. 
Evarts’s personal appearance is remarkable. He is tall and thin. His 
face is refined and indicative of his extraordinary capacity, but cold 
and unvarying in its expression. The great lawyer and rhetorician, 
“the American Cicero,” as somebody calls him, dresses most ungracefully; 
but too much hat and baggy trousers do not impair the certainty of his 
being recognized as a gentleman by all sorts and conditions of people. 
He is a family man, the head of a household eminent among the most 
refined and cultured in New York. 


56 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Thomas F. Bayard.—Thomas Francis Bayard was bom in Wilming¬ 
ton, Bel., October 29, 1828. His father and grandfather, both named James 
A. Bayard, and his uncle, Richard H. Bayard, served as United States 
Senators from Delaware. Mr. Bayard was educated chiefly at the Flushing 
school established by Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., and was originally 
designed for a mercantile career. He chose the law, however, and was 
admitted to the Bar in 1851. He was appointed United States District- 
Attorney for Delaware in 1853. He succeeded his father in the United 
States Senate, taking his seat on March 4, 1869, and was re-elected in 1875 


and 1881. In 1876 he was a 
Member of the Electoral 
Commission. During his 
career in the United States 
Senate he distinguished him¬ 
self in all the ways by which 
a public official could com¬ 
mend himself, and it is pre¬ 
suming nothing to say that 
he is among the foremost of 
American statesmen to-day. 
He has brought to his work 
high personal character, a 
mind of conservative mold, 
pure devotion to great pub¬ 
lic interests, ability as an 
orator and debater and 
activity and energy in the 
committee r o o m—qualities 
that have never failed him. 
He has always been an un¬ 
questioned Democrat, re¬ 



spected by his party as a 
great and safe leader, al¬ 
though hardly ever the beau 
ideal of the mere machine 
politicians. In person he 


THOMAS F. BAYARD. 


bears an admirable physique; is fond of outdoor sports and athletic exercise. 
He is married, and is the head of an interesting family. In the Democratic 
National Convention of 1880 he received 153)4 votes on the first ballot. In 
the Democratic National Convention of 1884 he received 170 votes on the 
first ballot and 151)4 on the second. In 1885 he was appointed Secretary of 
State by President Cleveland. 

Jam.es G-. Blaine.—This distinguished gentleman, who is universally 
known as a statesman of large views and varied attainments, comes of good 
old Revolutionary stock, and was born in Union Township, Washington 
County, Pennsylvania, in 1830. When but seventeen years of age, he was 
graduated with the first honors of his class from the College of Washington 
and Jefferson, in that State. Shortly afterward he went to Kentucky and 
entered upon the active business of life, by becoming Professor of Mathe¬ 
matics in the Western Military Institute, at Blue Lick Spring. During his 
residence there, he first met Miss Harriet Stanwood, an accomplished young 
lady from Maine, who, after ho had had experience as a tutor for two yean, 


nioGiiAP nr. 57 

induced him to remove to her native State, where he soon began to display 
those abilities which have since made him famous, and which have for 
years placed the leadership of the Republican party ot that section of the 
Union in his hands. Soon after his arrival in Maine, he married the lady 
just mentioned; and not long subsequently embraced the profession of 
journalism, becoming, for a brief period, connected with the Portland Daily 
Advertiser. Upon relinquishing his position on this publication, he settled 
in Augusta, and undertook the editorship of the Kennebec Journal; thence¬ 
forward progressing steadily in both private and public estimation. In 
1858, Mr. Blaine was elected 
a Representative of the Re¬ 
publican party to the State 
Legislature, where he speed¬ 
ily made his mark. From 
this time forward his influ¬ 
ence in the House and 
throughout the State became 
most pronounced, and so well 
assured, that he was called 
upon to serve for four ses¬ 
sions, during the latter two 
of which he was Speaker of 
the House. In 1862 he was 
first elected to Congress, and 
was re-elected six times, or 
until he became a Senator in 
1876. He was Speaker of the 
Forty-first, Forty-second and 
Forty-third Congresses, and 
was still serving his first 
term as Senator when he was 
appointed Secretary of State 
by President Garfield in 1881. 

Upon the death of Mr. Gar¬ 
field, which occured in Sep james g. blaine. 

tember of the same year, 

Mr. Blaine retired to private life and engaged in writing a voluminous work 
entitled “Twenty Years of Congress.” The first volume was published in 
1884, and met with an almost unprecedent success. In June of the same 
year the Republican National Convention met at Chicago and nominated 
Mr. Blaine for the Presidency. He directed a vigorous campaign, but was 
defeated by his Democratic opponent, Grover Cleveland. 

William T. Sherman.—General Sherman is a native of the State of 
Ohio, and was born at Lancaster, on the 8th of February, 1820. He was 
graduated at West Point in his twenty-first year, and saw military service in 
Florida and the war with Mexico and elsewhere, before resigning his com¬ 
mission in the year 1853. Upon his retirement from the army he began 
business in San Francisco as a banker, and continued this vocation four 
years, including a residence in New York City. From 1857 to 1859 he prac¬ 
ticed law in Leavenworth, Kansas. During the succeeding time up to the 
secession of the State from the Union, he acted as Superintendent of the 
Louisiana Military Academy. His resignation took place in January, 1861, 



58 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSEPVL KNOWLEDGE. 

and was almost immediately followed by his return to the army. The civil 
war gave Sherman the opportunity of distinguished service, and placed him 
in the first rank of living generals. His first commission was that of Colonel 
of a regiment of infantry. At the battle of Bull Run he commanded a 
brigade of volunteers, and was made Brigadier-General of volunteers. 
After serving a short time in the camp of instruction at St. Louis, he took 
part in the campaign conducted in the States of Tennessee and Mississippi, 
during which he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General of the 

regular army. In October, 

1863, he succeeded General 
Grant as commander of the 
army department of the Ten¬ 
nessee. When, in March, 

1864, General Grant was made 
Lieutenant-General and Com¬ 
mander of all the Union 
forces, Sherman succeeded 
him as Commander of the 
military division of the Missis¬ 
sippi; This included the en¬ 
tire Southwest, and his ap¬ 
pointment gave him command 
of more than a hundred thou¬ 
sand effective troops with 
whom to operate against Gen¬ 
eral J. E. Johnston. He began 
the invasion of Georgia on the 
2d of May, 1864, making his 
advance movement at the 
same time with that of General 
Grant in the East. His forces 
were superior in number to 
those of the Confederate Gen¬ 
eral, who, however, stubborn¬ 
ly contested the advance at 
every possible point. There 
was much hard fighting be¬ 
tween the two armies, and it was not until September 2d that Atlanta was 
captured by Major-General Sherman, but then newly promoted to this rank. 
He occupied the city with his army for ten weeks, when he commenced his 
march to the sea, having previously dispatched some forty thousand men 
under General Thomas to repel General Hood’s advance into Tennessee. 
His remaining forces consisted of sixty thousand men, more or less. In less 
than a month they had marched three hundred miles without resistance. 
His first fight was at Fort McAllister, below Savannah, the surrender of 
which stronghold preceded that of Savannah by eight days. In the middle 
of January, 1865, General Sherman began his invasion of the Carolinas. His 
march through South Carolina lasted six weeks. In North Carolina he 
encountered considerable opposition, and fought two pitched battles. 
Goldsboro’ was occupied on the 22d of March, 1865, Raleigh on April 
13th. On the 26th of April General Johnston surrendered his army to 
Sherman on the same terms as had been granted to General Lee by General 
Grant. This surrender virtually closed the war. General Sherman con- 



WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


59 


tinned in command of the military division of the Mississippi a year after 
the end of the hostilities, with the rank of Major-General in the regular 
army. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General when in July, 1866, Grant 
had been made General of the Army. His command continued as before. 
Sherman succeeded Grant as General of the Army in March, 1869, after the 
election of the first named to the Presidency. 



Philip H. Sheridan. -On February 9, 1865, the thanks of the United 
States Congress were tendered to a man for the gallantry, military skill and 
courage displayed in a series 
of victories, achieved by his 
army, in the Yalley of the 
Shenandoah, especially at the 
battle of Cedar Bun. This 
man was Philip Henry Sheri¬ 
dan, familiarly known as 
“Little Phil.” He was bom 
in Somerset, Perry County, 

Ohio, in 1831, was educated 
at West Point, and was ad¬ 
mitted to the Military Acad¬ 
emy in 1848, where he grad¬ 
uated in 1853. Entering the 
United States Artillery, he 
served in Texas and Oregon 
until 1855, when he sailed for 
San Francisco, in command 
of an escort to a United States 
surveying expedition. From 
this time until 1861, he com¬ 
manded a body of troops 
among the Indian tribes, 
when he was promoted to the 
rank of Captain. Upon the 
breaking out of the civil war, 
he was appointed Quarter¬ 
master of the Western De¬ 


partment, and Colonel of the philip h. sheridan. 

Second Michigan Volunteer 

Cavalry. At Booneville, in July, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of 
Brigadier-General of volunteers, and took command of the third division of 
the Army of the Ohio, distinguishing himself by his defence of Louisville, 
and again winning distinction on the banks of the Stone Eiver, December 30th, 
at which time he was promoted to the rank of Major-General of volunteers. 
He was appointed in April, 1864, to the command of the cavalry corps of 
the Army of the Potomac. In September, 1864, he was appointed Brigadier- 
General, and in November of the same year Major-General of the United 
States Army. He was in command of various military divisions of the army 
from June 3, 1864, until September 12, 1867. On March 4, 1869, he was 
appointed Lieutenant-General of the United States Army, and the same 
month took the command of the military division of the Missouri. He was 
in command of tho Western Division, with headquarters at Chicago, until 
1879, and commanded the forces which were sent to quell the Louisiana 





60 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

difficulties. The cavalry branch of the Federal forces under his able 
direction acquired an efficiency and gained a reputation such as it had 
nexer borne before. Sheridan recently succeeded Sherman as Commander- 
in-Chief of the United States Army. 

Grover Cleveland.—Mr. Cleveland is a native of New Jersey, born at 
Caldwell, Essex County, March 18, 1837. His father was a minister. After 
receiving such instruction as was procurable from the common school in 

various places of the parental 
residence, young Cleveland 
was sent to the Academy, 
Clinton, Oneida County, New 
York. Upon leaving this seat 
of learning, he went to New 
York City, where he filled for 
some time the position of 
clerk in an institution of 
charity. He is next heard of 
making his way West, in com¬ 
pany with an enterprising 
young man, with Cleveland, 
Ohio, as his objective point; 
but visiting, while on his way, 
an uncle residing in Buffalo, 
he was induced to remain in 
that city, as clerk in the store 
of hi8 relative. He was 
eighteen years of age at the 
time, an ambitious young fel¬ 
low possessed of the earnest 
desire to become a successful 
lawyer. His uncle favored 
this aspiration, and we soon 
find the youth a clerk in the 
office of a prominent law firm 
and at the same time enjoy¬ 
ing the comforts of a good 
GROVER CLEVELAND. home at his relative’s house. 

He was admitted to the Bar 
in 1859. His first political office was as Assistant District-Attorney for the 
County of Erie, under C. C. Torrance. He held the position three years, 
until the end of his superior’s term of office, when he was nominated for 
District-Attorney on the Democratic ticket, but defeated. In 1870, five years 
after this failure, he was elected Sheriff of Erie County; and in November, 
1881, was elected Mayor of Buffalo by a decisive majority. So admirably 
did he perform the functions of this office that his fame as a reformer soon 
spread throughout the State, and in 1882 he was nominated for Governor. 
The Republican party was hopelessly divided, and Mr. Cleveland was 
elected by the enormous majority of 192,000. This phenomenal success, 
coupled with his very satisfactory administration of the State government, 
gave Mr. Cleveland a national reputation, and in 1884 the Democratic party, 
in convention at Chicago, nominated him as its candidate for President. 
The Republican candidate was James G. Blaine, and an animated and 














BIOGRAPHY. 61 

sharply contested campaign followed, but Mr. Cleveland was elected, and 
on March 4, 1885, was inaugurated President of the United States. 



Thomas A. Hendricks.— Thomas Andrew Hendricks was born in 
Ohio on the 7th of September, 1819. He was graduated from South Han¬ 
over College in that State in 1840, when he removed to Chambersburg, Penn¬ 
sylvania, and began the 
study of law. Three years 
later he was admitted to the 
Bar and began the practice 
of his profession in Indiana. 

His career opened auspi¬ 
ciously and in a few years he 
became a lawyer of excellent 
standing. In 1848 he was 
elected to the State Legisla¬ 
ture, and in 1850 was a dele¬ 
gate to the State Constitu¬ 
tional Convention. The next 
year ho was elected to the 
House of Representatives, 
and in 1853 his term expired. 

He was appointed Commis-' 
sioner of the General Land 
Office by President Pierce, 
and from this on he has been 
one of the most important 
political characters in In¬ 
diana. In 1860 he ran for 
Governor against Henry S, 

Lane, and was defeated. He 
was elected to the United 
States Senate in 1863 for the 
long term. Here he won 
considerable distinction as a 
debater and served with 
marked ability in the Com¬ 
mittees on Claims, Public thomas a. hendricks. 

Buildings and Grounds, the 

Judiciary, Public Lands and Naval Affairs. His name was presented to the 
Democratic National Convention in 1868 as candidate for the Presidency, and 
he would no doubt have received the nomination but for the Ohio delegates, 
who by persistently voting for Horatio Seymour finally caused a stampede 
in his favor. The friends of Mr. Hendricks Have always insisted that bis 
nomination would have insured a Democratic victory. Again in 1872 he was 
proposed as a candidate in the Democratic National Convention, and but fo* 
the unexpected fusions of that time he would probably have been the nom¬ 
inee of his party. He was nominated for Yice-President in 1876 upon the 
ticket with Samuel J. Tilden, and for the same office in 1884, Grover Clev©- 
land being the candidate for the Presidency, and was elected. 


HISTORY, 


The Battle of Waterloo.—The decisive conflict which annihilated 
the power of Napoleon I, was fought June 18, 1815, in a plain about two 
miles from the village of Waterloo, and twelve miles south from Brussels. 
Agreeably to the unanimous resolve of the Allies to attack Napoleon on all 
sides, and crush him as they had done in 1814, British and Prussian troops 
were stationed in the Netherlands, under the command of Wellington and 
Blucher respectively, in order to attack France on the north. Napoleon, on 
his side, well aware that for a considerable time no weighty attack could be 
made on France except by these forces, and fully recognizing the immense 
advantage to be gained by destroying one enemy before the others could 
come up, rapidly concentrated the bulk of his troops; and with a sudden¬ 
ness and secrecy which defied all effective counter-preparations, crossed the 
Belgian frontier, and fell with one part of his forces on the Prussians at 
Ligny, and with the other part, under Ney’s immediate command, on the 
army of the Prince of Orange at Quatre-Bras. The Prussians—as Welling¬ 
ton, after learning Blucher’s dispositions for the battle, had foretold—were, 
after a contest of the most obstinate description, completely defeated; but the 
Prince of Orange, by the aid of the reinforcements promptly forwarded to 
him by the English commander, succeeded in withstanding Ney’s attack. 
In the plan preconcerted by the Allied generals such a result was not un¬ 
foreseen, and in accordance with their scheme of firm resistance and retreat 
if necessary (to allow time for the Russians and Austrians to assemble on 
the eastern frontier of France), Blucher retreated northwards (instead of 
eastwards, as Napoleon expected) nearer the place of rendezvous with Well¬ 
ington at Mont St. Jean; while early on the morning of the 17th, the Anglo- 
Netherlanders retired along an almost parallel route till they reached the 
forest of Soignies, in front of which they were formed in battle array, facing 
southwards. Napoleon, imagining that the Prussians were in total rout, 
and their complete dissipation would easily be accomplished by Grouchy’s 
division (33,000 men), which he had sent in pursuit, crossed to Quatre-Bras 
with the rest of his troops, and uniting with Ney, marched in pursuit of 
Wellington, arriving on the plain of Waterloo in the e^ ening. 

The two armies which then confronted each other, though nearly equal 
in strength, were composed of very different materials. The French army, 
numbering from 09,909 to 72,247 men (according to French authorities, Eng¬ 
lish historians varying in their estimate from 74,000 to 90,000, though its 
exact strength cannot be ascertained, owing to the loss of the official re¬ 
turns), was composed of veteran troops, who had enthusiastically ranked 
themselves once more under the standard of the chief who had so often led 
them to victory. The Anglo-Netherlands army, which numbered 69,894, of 
whom only 25,389 were British, 6,793 of the king’s German legion, 10,995 
Hanoverians, 6,303 Bruns wickers, 2,926 Nassauers, and 17,488 Netherlanders, 
consisted, with the exception of a small number of Peninsular veterans, 
wholly of young soldiers, a large nronortiou of wima had never been under 



HISTORY . 


63 


fire; the Hanoverians were only militia, some of them being fit but for garri¬ 
son duty; while the behavior of many of the Belgian troops during the bat¬ 
tle showed plainly enough that they mainly increased the numerical strength 
of the army, as they left it to the Dutch soldiers to vindicate the wrongs of 
the Netherlands. The French had 240, while their opponents had only 
about 156 guns. With such an army, to maintain even a defensive conflict 
with an army of veterans, commanded by the greatest general of the time, 
was a task which (laboring under a mistake as to the exact superiority in 
number of his opponents) it required all Wellington’s rare tenacity of pur¬ 
pose to undertake; yet undertake it he did, depending on Blucher’s promise 
to join him an hour after mid-day. 

On the morning of the 18th, the two armies found themselves ranged in 
battle-array opposite each other; the Allies, posted on a line of eminences, 
had their left wing resting on Frischermont, the farm-house of La Haye 
Sainte in front of their center, while their right wing curved convexly round 
behind Hougomont, and rested on Braine Merbes, The French were ranged 
on a parallel row of eminences, having La Belle Alliance in their center, 
with some divisions of cavalry and infantry in reserve behind the right wing; 
Kellermann’s dragoons behind the left wing; and the Guard, stationed with 
the 6th corps, in the rear. Skirmishing had continued all the mornmg; but 
the first serious attack was not made till between eleven and twelve, when 
a part of the first corps advanced against Hougomont, with the view of 
masking the more important attack to be made against the allied left. 
This preliminary assault, however, though unsuccessful, was maintained 
with great vigor for a considerable time; till Napoleon, dreading a further 
loss of time, prepared to make his grand attack on the left center. At this 
time (half-past one p. m. ) he learned that the advanced guard of the 4th 
Prussian corps (Bulow’s) was appearing in front of St. Lambert, two or 
three miles to hi3 right; and being forced to detach his 6th corps (Lobau’s) 
with the reserves of cavalry behind his right wing, to keep them in check, 
he had to modify his grand plan of attack on the Anglo-Netherlanders, and 
accordingly ordered Ney to break through their center. At two p. m., after 
a furious preliminary cannonade, from which Wellington sheltered his men 
(as at various other times during the battle), by retiring them to the reverse 
of the slope, Ney advanced against the left center with 20,000 men, but had 
only succeeded in putting to flight a Belgian brigade, when he was attacked 
and driven back by Picton’s division, his retreating columns charged and 
broken by the English cavalry, and 2,000 prisoners taken. Nevertheless, 
after a brief space, Ney returned to the charge, and carried La Haye Samte, 
though hi 3 repeated attacks on the infantry in position were constantly re¬ 
pulsed, and his retreating columns severely handled by the British cavalry, 
who, disordered by success, were as often overthrown by the French cuiras¬ 
siers. By this time (half-past four p. m.), Bulow had succeeded in deploy¬ 
ing from the woods, and, advancing against Planchenoit, in the rear of the 
French right, carried it after a vigorous conflict. Lobau’s corps, however, 
aided by a reinforcement from the Guard, speedily retook the post, and 
driving the Prussians back into the wood, secured the French right flank for 
a time; Napoleon, though now learning that another Prussian corps (the 1st, 
under Ziethen) was coming up by Ohain to join the Allied left, being still 
confident that he could destroy the Anglo-Netherlanders before the Prus¬ 
sians could render effective aid. During the conflict with Bulow, Ney had 
been warmly engaged with the center and right of the enemy, who had made 
various attempts to regain the wood of Hougomont and La Ilayo Sainte, and 


64 CYCLOP JED IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


had supported his repeated attacks with not only his own cavalry, but (by, 
at any rate, the “ tacit consent ” of the Emperor) with the cuirassiers, lan¬ 
cers, and chasseurs, of the Guard, and the whole of the mounted reserve, 
without, however, producing any result other than a great slaughter on both 
sides, and the useless sacrifice of 18,000 of the finest cavalry ever seen. 
Napoleon now resolved on another vehement assault on the immovable 
British center, and directed against it in succession two columns, one com¬ 
posed of four battalions of the Middle Guard, and the other of four battalions 
of the Middle and two of the Old Guard, supporting them with flank attacks 
of other infantry divisions, of cavalry and with a dreadful fire of artillery. 
The advancing French were met with a well-sustained fire from every piece 
which could be brought to bear upon thorn; the first attacking column was 
fairly driven down the slope by the English Guards, and the second was to¬ 
tally routed by a bayonet-charge of Adam’s brigade, the British cavalry fol¬ 
lowing up the fugitives. Zietlien had now (seven p. m.) joined the left of the 
English line; Bulow, further reinforced, had carried Planchenoit, and was 
driving the French right wing before him; and the combined attack on the 
retiring masses of the French by the whole effective force of the Anglo- 
Netherlanders on the one side, and of the Prussian cavalry on the other, 
converted an ordinary, though severe defeat into a rout unparalleled in his¬ 
tory. The magnificent cavalry, wantonly destroyed by Ney in fruitless at¬ 
tacks upon an “ impracticable ” infantry, would then have been of incalcu¬ 
lable service, but they were no longer to be had. The last square of the 
Guard still stood its ground, to protect the flight of the Emperor; but it was 
speedily surrounded, and on the soldier-like refusal of Cambronne to sur¬ 
render, was in a moment pierced through, and broken to pieces. From this 
time all resistance was over; the roads southwards,, especially that to Ge- 
nappes, were crowded with fugitives fleeing for their lives from the pursu¬ 
ing cavalry; and though the English light cavalry, exhausted with their 
severe work during the battle, soon ceased the pursuit, it was kept up with 
great energy throughout the whole night by the Prussian troopers, who 
seemed bent upon at once avenging the defeats of Jena, Auerstadt, and 
Ligny, and glutted their fierce animosity by an indiscriminate slaughter. 
The total loss in this battle was, from the obstinacy and determination with 
which it was contested, necessarily large; the figures are: British and Han¬ 
overians, 11,678, Brunswiclters, 687; Nassauers, 643; Netherlanders, 3,178; a 
total of 16,186, which, added to 6,999 Prussians, gives the aggregate allied 
loss, 23,185. The French had 18,500 killed and wounded; 7,800 prisoners 
(some French accounts raise the total list of hors de combat to 32,000), and 
227 cannon captured. 

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew.—In order to properly under¬ 
stand the events that led to the great political and ecclesiastical crime of 
1572 a short review of the three precedmg reigns is necessary. French¬ 
men still look back with pride to the memory of Francis I. A king of great 
virtues and equally great vices, of noble aspirations but of ignoble passions, 
never bigoted except when frightened by priests, the friend of painter and 
scholar, but dying at last from a disgusting malady brought on by his licen¬ 
tious amours. 

In 1544 Francis chanced to be ill of a dangerous malady. The bigoted 
Cardinal de Tournon persuaded him that his illness was a judgment of God 
to punish him for not extirpating heresy in France, and the king ordered the 
Waldenses of Provence to be exterminated as a cure for his malady. This 


HIS TO li Y, 


65 


peaceable, industrious and God-fearing race bad been a living protest 
against the church of Rome for hundreds of years, but now an expedition 
was sent among them commanded by John Menier, Baron of Opede, who 
declared, “ I know how to treat these people; I will send them one and all 
to hell.” So far as lay in his power he fulfilled his word by murdering 3,000 
people and burning twenty-four villages. The tale of the atrocities com¬ 
mitted in Provence awoke a cry of indignation from one end of the country 
to the other, and the cloud of religious war that was already hovering over 
France grew black and ominous. 

Francis was succeeded by his second son Henry, who ascended the 
throne in 1547. Henry’s queen was the celebrated Catherine de’ Medici, of 
whom we shall hear more hereafter. He was a prince of dull and common¬ 
place intellect, chiefly distinguished for his skill in the tournaments. 

During this reign the reformed religion spread rapidly, although the 
edicts against dissenters were enforced with great severity. In Poitou and 
Anjou the fires of persecution blazed so fiercely that the Reformers medi¬ 
tated taking up arms, but were dissuaded from so doing by their leader 
Calvin. 

France was at war with Spain during a great part of this reign. After 
the fall of St. Quentin, at which Admiral Coligny—so famous both for the 
greatness of his character and from the fact that he was the first victim of 
the Massacre of St. Bartholomew —was taken prisoner, peace was concluded 
on the 3rd of April, 1559. William of Orange was sent as a hostage to Paris 
by the King of Spain, and one day while hunting in a forest, the King con¬ 
fided to him a plan he had formed for the extermination of the Huguenots at 
a single blow. From the taciturnity and presence of mind with which he 
received so startling a revelation, the liberator of the Netherlands received 
the title of William the Silent. This is ample proof that the great massacre 
was contemplated as early as 1559, although two kings died and thirteen 
years rolled away before its execution. 

In June an edict was issued more severe than any that had gone before. 
By it, all convicted Lutherans were to be punished with instant death with¬ 
out chance cf remission. There is but little doubt that if this decree had 
been enforced as Henry intended* it should be, Protestantism would have 
been crushed out of France as it was of Spain. But this was not to be. 
During the same month, at a grand tournament, the king was wounded in 
the eye by a splinter from a lance. The wound was mortal, and on the 10th 
of July, 1559, the sceptre of France fell from the dead hand of Henry the 
Second. 

Francis the Second, a youth of weak body and dull intellect, the eldest 
son of Henry, and husband of the unfortunate and beautiful Mary of Scot¬ 
land, ascended his father’s throne on the 10th of July, 1559, at the age of six¬ 
teen. His mother, Catherine de’ Medici, who had remained in the back¬ 
ground during the reign of Henry, now became one of the chief political 
forces of the kingdom. It now became evident that she was a consummate 
mistress of the art of political intrigue, by her success in playing the rival 
houses of Guise and Bourbon one against the other. The Guises being at 
this time most in favor of the King, a conspiracy was formed to accomplish 
their overthrow. It failed, however, and was followed by another wholesale 
butchery, chiefly instigated by the Duke of Guise and his brother, the 
Cardinal of Lorraine. The cruelties practiced at this “ massacre of Am- 
broise,” as it is called, had so exasperated the people, and the symptoms of 
a general outbreak of the Huffuenotsu who had now become very powerful, 


66 GTGL 0PJ3DIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


were so alarming, that the Government was forced to make concessions. An 
edict was published making the bishops and clergy the solo judges for 
offences against religion, which had the practical effect of preventing the 
establishment of the inquisition in France, and the States-General were con¬ 
voked for the first time in seventy-six years. The cause of the reformers 
was eloquently advocated by the Admiral Coligny, who presented a petition 
from the Huguenots, asserting their love for the King, but praying that a 
stop be put to the cruel persecutions under which they were suffering, and 
for permission to read the Bible, and hold their meetings in the open day. 
“ But your petition,” said Francis, “ has no signatures.” “ That is true, 
sire,” replied Coligny, “ but if you will allow us to meet for the purpose, I 
will in one day obtain in Normandy alone 50,000 signatures.” “ And I,” in¬ 
terrupted the Duke of Guise, “ will find 100,000. good Catholics to break 
their heads.” 

Louis, Prince of Conde, and Henry, King of Navarre, who had been se¬ 
cretly allied with the reformers, were at this time under sentence of death, 
and were only saved by the timely death of the King, which took place on 
the 5th of December, 1560, after a reign of eighteen months, the shortest in 
French annals. 

Francis, dying childless, was succeeded by his brother Charles, a child 
of ten years. Catherine now assumed as her right, the exercise of sovereign 
power in the name of her son. Her first act was to divide the great offices 
between the families of Guise and Bourbon, her object being to hold the bal¬ 
ance evenly between them. This and other well-intentioned acts on the 
part of the Government were rendered fruitless by the intensity of the hatred 
between the rival religions. Disturbances were general throughout the 
kingdom, and the furious fanaticism of both sides found many victims. 
The civil war which had long been imminent, was precipitated by what is 
called the “Massacre of Yassy.” The Duke of Guise, traveling with a re¬ 
tinue of 200 armed gentlemen, stopped at the little town of Yassy, in Cham¬ 
pagne, where, the day being Sunday, Protestants were assembled for divine 
worship. By the Duke’s order, his attendants tried to disperse the gather¬ 
ing. They resisted, and an unequal conflict ensued. The Duke was struck 
on the cheek by a stone, whereupon his .enraged soldiers fired upon the un¬ 
armed multitude, killing sixty and wounding over 200. The Huguenots 
now rushed to arms, and France became the theatre of civil Avar. Under 
their leaders, Coligny and the Prince of Condo, they fought Avith varying suc¬ 
cess until a peace was concluded in 1563, by Avhich they obtained permission 
to worship in the houses of the nobility and gentry, and in one town in every 
Bailliage. This was, however, of short duration. Some conferences be¬ 
tween Catherine and her daughter Elizabeth, wife of the King of Spain, to¬ 
gether with the reports of the atrocities committed by the Duke of Alva in 
the Netherlands, excited the suspicions of the Huguenots, and in 1567, war 
was recommenced by an attempt on their part to sieze the King and his 
family, with a view to a complete change of Government- With the excep¬ 
tion of a short truce in 1568-’9, the combat raged until 1570. At first the 
Huguenots met Avith many disasters, but the tide of battle turned and their 
successes in the campaign of 1570, secured for them the treaty of St. Ger¬ 
main, by which they obtained the free exercise of their religion throughout 
the kingdom, with the single exception of the capital; they were admitted 
on equal terms Avith the Catholics to all professions and public employments, 
and restitution was granted for all forfeited offices and confiscated property. 
The Huguenots* were now lulled into temporary security bv the efforts of 


HIS TOIi Y. 


67 


the courts to mitigate the bitter hostility of parties. Admiral Coligny had at 
last overcome his deep-seated distrust, and repaired to Blois, where he was 
received by the young King with open arms. 

However, the favor and ascendency of the Protestants served only to in¬ 
tensify the hatred of the Catholic party, and it was apparent to many that a 
crisis was approaching. The sudden death of the queen of Navarre, under 
strong suspicion of poison, so alarmed the reformers that many fled from 
Paris. Coligny still remained, in spite of the remonstrances of his friends. 
Early in the summer of 1572, an expedition to the Netherlands was fitted out 
under his direction, by which many important places were taken, but a re¬ 
verse occurring, the council were divided on the course to be pursued. 
The Admiral and his adherents demanded an immediate declaration of war 
with Spain. Catherine and the Guises ranged themselves on the opposing 
side, and thus becoming in direct collision with Coligny, determined on his 
death. It was arranged that he should be assassinated by some retainer of 
the Guises. This would produce an insurrection of the Huguenots to 
avenge his death, whereupon the populace of Paris were to be instigated to 
rise and exterminate the weaker party in a wholesale massacre. 

On the 18th of August, the marriage of Henry of Navarre and Margaret 
of Valois took place, and aroused popular commotion to the highest pitch. 
Strange and fearful rumors of impending calamity gained ground in the 
capital. Three days after, as the Admiral was returning from the Louvre, 
he was fired at from a window by an agent of the Duke of Guise, and 
wounded in the head and arm. When the news was brought to Charles, he 
exclaimed passionately, “ Am I never to be left in peace ? ” but went at 
once to see his wounded friend to assure him of his affection, and that he 
would at once exact a signal vengeance for the outrage. Coligny com¬ 
plained bitterly of the malign influence of Catherine, and urged the King to 
deprive her of power, offering the aid of the whole Protestant party to effect 
this purpose. The conspirators were now struck with consternation. Their 
first blow had failed, lor the Admiral’s wounds were not dangerous, and 
they were menaced with exposure and ruin. After an agitated consultation, 
they went in a body to the King, and conjuring up before him dreadful vis¬ 
ions of renewed civil war, revolution, foreign aggression and personal vio¬ 
lence, urged him to consent to the death of the Admiral and other leaders 
of the Huguenots. The monarch yielded, after a long and painful struggle. 
Starting up suddenly in one of those transports of delirious fury to which he 
was subject, he ordered, with fearful execrations, that since it was neces¬ 
sary to shed the blood of the Admiral, not a Huguenot should be left alive 
in his kingdom to reproach him with the deed. 

On the Feast of St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1572, the great bell of 
St. Germain l’Auxerrois rang out at the unwonted hour of two in the morn¬ 
ing. This was the appointed signal. It was instantly repeated from all the 
steeples of the capital. Lights were suddenly shown in every window. The 
assassins, armed to the teeth, and distinguished by white crosses in their 
hats, swarmed forth from their lurking places in every quarter of Paris, and 
the work of death began. The first victim was the illustrious Coligny. 
The wounded Admiral was awakened by tumultuous knocking, and voices 
crying, “Open in the King’s name!” The Dukes of Guise and Aumale, 
with a band of myrmidons were at the gate. The frightened servants rau 
to see what caused the tumult. Some were killed and some escaped up¬ 
stairs and barricaded the doors with furniture. Coligny, who was alone 
with Ambroise Pare the surgeon, knew well the meaning of the uproar, a»<J 


68 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

yet remained as calm as though no danger was impending. In a few mo¬ 
ments the feeble barrier was dashed aside, and a band of ruffians entered, 
one of whom, advancing his sword to the breast of the wounded man, ex¬ 
claimed, “Are you not the Admiral?” The answer was, “I am; but, 
young man, you should respect my grey hairs and not attack a wounded 
man. But what matters it ? You cannot shorten my life except by God’s 
permission.” The German soldier with an execration, plunged his sword 
into the old hero’s breast, and his body was thrown from a window to Henry 
of Guise, who was waiting below, and who refused to take any evidence but 
that of his senses, that his great enemy was dead. 

When the harsh sound rang from the belfry of St. Germain l’Auxerrois, 
it was caught up and echoed from tower to tower, rousing all Paris from 
their slumbers. Immediately from every quarter of that ancient city, up¬ 
rose a tumult as of hell. The clanging bell, the crashing doors, the mus¬ 
ket shots, the rush of armed men, the shrieks of their victims, and high 
over all the yells of the mob, fiercer and more pitiless than hungry wolves, 
made such an uproar that the stoutest hearts shrank appalled, and the most 
sane appeared to have lost their reason. Women unsexed, men wanting 
everything but the strength of wild beasts, children without a single charm 
of youth or innocence, crowded the streets where the rising day still struggled 
with the glare of a thousand torches. They smelled the odor of .blood, and 
thirsting to indulge their passions for once with impunity, committed hor¬ 
rors that have become a marvel of history. 

Within the walls of the Louvre, and in the hearing of Charles and his 
mother, if not actually in their sight, was enacted one of the most foul 
scenes of this detestable tragedy. A list of the names of the Huguenot gen¬ 
tlemen in attendance on the King of Navarre was read, and as each man 
answered to his name, he was forced to step into a courtyard, where sword 
and spear made short work of him. Thus perished 200 of the best blood of 
France. 

The houses in which the Huguenots lodged were easily known, having 
been registered. The soldiers burst into them, killing all they found, with¬ 
out regard to age or sex, and if any escaped to the roof, they were shot down 
like pigeons. Daylight served to facilitate a work too foul even lor the 
blackest midnight. Restraint of every kind was thrown aside, and while 
men were victims of bigoted fury, the women were exposed to violence unut¬ 
terable. Marshal Tavannes, the military director of this deed of treachery, 
rode the streets with dripping sword, shouting, “ Kill, kill I the doctors say 
that blood-letting is as good in August as in May.” In making his dying 
confession, this Tavannes was reminded that he had made no allusion to 
St. Bartholomew’s day. “ That,” he replied, “ I look upon as a meritorious 
action, which ought to atone for all the sins of my life.” Such was the 
spirit that animated the sectaries of the 16th century. 

The massacre soon exceeded the bounds anticipated by the conspirators. 
Toward evening the King gave orders to put a stop to the bloody work, but 
it was found that the demons he had unchained were not so easily appeased, 
and the carnage continued unabated during several days. Similar enormi¬ 
ties were committed in all the more important provincial towns, the history 
of which would far exceed the limit assigned to this article. The whole 
number who perished is given by the most trustworthy authorities as about 
20 , 000 . 

There were great rejoicings in Rome, and at the court of Spain, when the 
pews was received, but it sent a thrill of horror through Protestant England, 


69 


n is tor r* 

and it was some days before tlie French Ambassador was received at court 
there. On his deathbed, Charles is said to have suffered great agonies of 
remorse over the cruelties that had disgraced his reign. 

It is only necessary to add that here, as elsewhere, history teaches the 
lesson that such violent measures almost always operate for the cause that 
they are directed against. In less than a year the Huguenots had recov- * 
ered from their temporary demoralization, and were in position to address 
the King in bolder and more importunate language than ever before, and 
soon a third and more powerful party was formed by a coalition of the 
Huguenots and moderate catholics. 

As a purely gratuitous massacre, the Feast of St. Bartholomew remains 
without a parallel in the annals of the world. The Greeks of Lesser Asia 
rose and slew 80,000 Bomans living among them, the Britons massacred 
whole settlements of the invading Danes, and at the Sicilian vespers 20,000 
French were put to death without distinction of age or sex. But these 
massacres were all committed in the name of freedom—to drive out a for¬ 
eign conqueror, to throw off the yoke of an invader. The motives that ani¬ 
mated the conspirators in Paris were of the lowest kind—envy, jealousy, 
greed, ambition. 

The Inquisition or Holy Office.— Carlyle has somewhere noted in 
dispraise of written history, that those facts are more often preserved which 
tend to retard the progress of civilization, than those other which aid in its 
advancement. As such, he speaks of the records of wars, conquests, cruel¬ 
ties and persecutions. But while we own with candor the over fondness of 
the human mind for the dramatic and thrilling incidents contained in such 
records, we cannot for a moment deny their instructiveness and value. 

The history of the institution of which we purpose to write, is one replete 
with horrors. From a thousand blazing piles of fagots, we may yet hear 
the pain-wrung cries of women, men and children that wero uttered three 
centuries or more ago. For most of them a word would have purchased 
absolution, but that word was false, and remained unspoken. On the one 
hand, the astonishing fortitude of human beings perishing, for a principle, 
by the most painful processes that human ingenuity, aided by the most in¬ 
veterate hate and fanaticism could devise. On the other, the persecutor, 
trained by tradition and by education, to believe his trade in truth a “ holy 
office,” and one deserving the richest rewards of earth, the most felicitous 
enjoyments of heaven. For few, we must believe, acted from the pure love 
of cruelty. The powers that were, doubtless, knew how to select their in¬ 
struments, and chose men of a hard and ambitious cast of character. But 
that these were actuated largely by a sense of duty, and of the importance 
of preserving intact tbe tenets of the mother church, we cannot doubt. Did 
these events retard the progress of civilization ? Was not the progress of 
civilization and of the Beformation the same ? Does not history teach that 
principle and sect thrive best when persecuted ? The light of reason was 
shining there, though forced to hide and tremble, and what was still more 
potent for good to the cause of Luther, and of Calvin, the great heart of the 
people of Europe was rightly placed, and pity dwelt there as it does in the 
hearts of men to-day. We may not lightly conclude but that the baleful 
fires of Torquemada did as much to aid the onward movement of the Befor¬ 
mation, as did the iniquitous sale of indulgences, to secure its birth. 

From its early ages, the Christian church had claimed the right to not 
only look after the spiritual welfare, but to inquire into the doctrinal sound- 


70 CYCLOPEDIA OP TTSEPVL KNOWLEDGE. 


ness of all people where it was established, and laws more or less rigorous 
existed for the punishment of all dissenters from the national creed. Dur¬ 
ing the reigns of Theodosius and Justinian, officials called Inquisitors were 
appointed, whose duty it was to cite persons suspected of heresy before the 
civil tribunals. 

Their sentences usually took some mild form of ecclesiastical censure, 
although occasional cruelties were practiced. During the eleventh and 
twelfth centuries, however, the spread of certain sects known as the Cathari, 
Waldenses, and Albigenses, alarmed the church authorities, and measures 
were taken to perfect the inquisatorial system for the suppression of heresy. 
In 1248, under Pope Innocent IV, the form of the institution was changed 
from that of a local tribunal, for the suppression of certain sects as they 
arose, to that of a permanent establishment, to be introduced into the differ¬ 
ent countries where the Papal power was recognized. Thus constituted, 
and under the Dominican order of monks, it was introduced into Italy, 
Spain, Germany and the southern provinces of France. 

The operation of the inquisition was as follows: In each parish a number 
of persons were sworn to give information of all who were suspected of hold¬ 
ing heretical opinions, who attended secret meetings, or departed in any way 
from the established customs of the church. In some cases, nearly all the 
inhabitants of a parish were thus made sworn informers. Any person re¬ 
fusing to qualify as an informer, by taking the oath, was himself suspected 
of heresy. To conceal the crime of othex-s was punished by confiscation of 
property, and deprivation of office. 

Persons suspected were reported to the bishops. They were then 
thrown into prison, to be released for trial at the pleasure of the judges. 
In case of inactivity on the part of the bishops, they might be deprived of 
office by the Legates of the Pope, by whom the process of exth’pation was 
controlled. The accused, when brought to trial, was not confronted with 
his accusers, nor were their names made known to him. The evidence of 
an accomplice was admissible, and the accused himself was often put to the 
torture to extort a confession from him. If found guilty, he was liable to 
death by fire or the scaffold, impi’isonment in the galleys for life, or for a 
limited period, forfeiture of property, civil infamy, or in minor cases, re¬ 
traction and public penance. He who concealed the guilty, was regarded as 
an offender of the gravest kind, and was punished by the confiscation of his 
property, and deprivation of office. In sickness, no medical attendance was 
permitted them, and they were forced to depart from their homes clad in a 
garb betokening their infamy. 

All these conditions the Papal authority had power to enforce. The 
agents of the Pope were well chosen. The emoluments of their office were 
enormous, and from their greed and zealous eagerness in performing the 
duties assigned to them, they earned the punning title, on the name of 
their order, of “ Domini Canes,” or dogs of the Lord. The character of 
some of the Papal legates may fairly be estimated by an incident in south¬ 
ern France. 

During the first part of the thirteenth century, the Papal Legate and in¬ 
quisitor, Peter of Castelnau, who had been commissioned to extirpate heresy 
in the dominions of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse, was murdered. A 
crusade was undertaken, under the direction of Legates Arnold and Milo, 
and under the military conduct of Simon of Monfort. The ostensible object 
of the expedition was to revenge the death of Peter, but its real purpose was 
to punish Count Raymond, who had become an object of hatred to the Papal 


HISTORY. 


71 


authorities, by his toleration of the Albigenses in his domain. It was in 
vain that the Count submitted to the most humiliating penance and flagella¬ 
tion at the hands of Milo. The town of Beziers was taken by storm, and 
twenty (some authorities say forty) thousand people, both Catholic and 
heretics, were massacred. “ Kill them all,” said Legate Arnold, “ God 
will know his own.” 

At the beginning of the 15th century, the arrogance and avarice of the 
Romish church had reached a point at which the movement, which was to 
undermine its temporal power, was inevitable. Wycliffe in England, Jerome 
of Prague, and Hubs, the Bohemian martyr, were beginning to strike the 
chords of awakening reason. But the overbearing spirit of the church was 
too strong for the reforming spirit in its early manifestations. In the midst 
of his evangelical activity, Huss was betrayed, through promise of a safe- 
conduct, into making his appearance at the council of Constance in 1414. 
No sooner was he fairly in the power of the council, than he was confronted 
with certain articles of abjuration, and refusing to submit without being 
convinced, he was, in defiance of the promise made to him, condemned to 
be burned as a heretic. The rising spirit of the Reformation was for a mo¬ 
ment quenched in the flames that consumed the intrepid martyr of Bo¬ 
hemia. 

A little further on, the sale of indulgences, by which the church granted 
absolution and release from the pains of purgatory for all crimes committed, 
or to be committed, by any persons who would pay to the church a fixed 
sum of money, awoke from a life of asceticism, that leading spirit of the 
Reformation, Martin Luther. From his fiery utterances, the movement 
spread rapidly through Germany, and obtained a foothold in different parts 
of Europe. For the first time the Papal throne was made to tremble. Here 
was a spirit not to be intimidated. A Papal bull, that fearful instrument 
that had made so many kings bow their heads in submission, was by him 
publicly burned at the gate of Wittenberg. Translations of the Scriptures 
were being made, and although fiercely condemned by the church, found 
many secret hiding-places. 

Against this rising spirit were set to work all the intricate and deadly 
machinery of the inquisition. Volumes would be required to give an ac¬ 
count of the struggle in all the different countries of Europe. We will con¬ 
fine ourselves to some transactions in Spain, and in the Netherlands. 

In Spain, the office of Inquisator-General was first filled by Thomas de 
Torquemada, a friar of the Dominican order, whose cruelties have made the 
name of the Spanish Inquisition infamous in history. During the sixteen 
years of his tenure of office, 9,000 persons perished in the flames. 

The ceremony preceding these executions was called an Auto da Fe, or 
Act of Faith, and was often attended by the King and first grandees of Spain. 
It was held on a Sunday or Holy-day. At dawn the dismal tolling of the 
great bell of the high church, gave the signal to begin the drama of the day. 
The procession was led by the Dominicans, carrying the flag of the Inquisi¬ 
tion. Next followed the penitents on whom only penance had been laid. 
Behind them, and separated by a great cross which was borne before, came 
those condemned to death—bare-foot, clad in the san-benito and with a 
pointed cap upon their heads; then effigies of the fugitives; and lastly the 
bones of dead culprits, in black coffins, painted with flames and hellish sym¬ 
bols. The frightful train was closed by an army of priests and monks. The 
procession went through the principal streets to the church, where, after a 
sermon on the true faith, sentence was pronounced. A few hours after- 


72 CYCLOPEDIA OP tTSPPVL KNO WLBD CP. 

• 

wards, they were brought to the place of execution. If they yet, at the last, 
made profession of the Catholic faith, they were so far favored as to be first 
strangled; otherwise they were burned alive. 

In 1540, Francisco San-Boman, a native of Burgos, was sent by his em¬ 
ployers to Bremen, to transact some business. While there, he became a 
convert to the reformed doctrines. Some Lutheran books being found in 
his possession, he was seized and thrown into prison, where he remained 
for eight months. Afterwards, for a too free avowal of his sentiments on 
the occasion of an introduction to the Emperor Charles, he was again de¬ 
livered over to the Inquisition at Valladolid. When brought before the in¬ 
quisitors, he frankly avowed his belief in the cardinal doctrine of the re¬ 
formers, and pronounced the mass, auricular confession, purgatory, the in¬ 
vocation of saints, and worshiping of images, to be a blasphemy against the 
living God. He refused at the place of execution to purchase a mitigation 
of punishment, by confessing to a priest, or bowing to a crucifix which was 
placed before him. When the flames first reached him, he made an invol¬ 
untary motion of his head, and the friars exclaimed that he had become 
penitent, and ordered him to be brought from the fire. On recovering his 
breath, he looked them calmly in the face and asked, “ Did you envy my 
happiness ? ” at which he was thrust back into the flames and almost in¬ 
stantly suffocated. 

The second Auto da Fe in Valladolid, took place on the 8th of October, 
1559. Twenty-nine prisoners appeared on the scaffold, of whom sixteen wore 
the garb of penitents, while the flames painted on the san-benitos of the re¬ 
mainder, marked them out for the stake. At the head of those devoted to 
death was Don Carlos de Seso. Arrested at Logrono, he was thrown into 
the secret prison of the Inquisition, and on the 28th of June, 1558, answered 
the interrogatories of the fiscal. His conduct during the whole of his im¬ 
prisonment and in the terrible scene with which it terminated, was worthy 
of his noble character and the active part which he had taken in the cause 
of religious reform. When informed of his sentence, he called for pen, ink 
and paper, and having written a confession of his faith, gave it to an officer 
saying, “ This is the true faith of the Gospel, as opposed to that of the 
church of Eome, which has been corrupted for ages.” The whole of that 
night and morning was spent by the friars in an ineffectual attempt to induce 
him to recant. He appeared in the procession with a gag in his mouth. It 
was removed after he was bound to the stake, and the friars began again to 
exhort him to confess. He replied in a loud voice, and with great firmness, 
“ I could demonstrate to you that you ruin yourselves by not imitating my 
example, but there is no time. Executioners, light the pile that is to con¬ 
sume me.” They obeyed, and De Seso expired among the flames without 
a struggle or a groan. 

At an Auto in Seville, on the 22nd of December, 1560, no fewer than eight 
females of the most irreproachable character, suffered the most cruel of 
deaths. Among these were Maria Gomez, her sister and three daughters. 
After the reading of the sentence which condemned them to the flames, one 
of the young women went up to her aunt, from whom she had imbibed the 
Protestant doctrine, and thanked her for the religious instruction she had 
given her, and implored her dying blessing. The five friends took leave of 
one another with tender embraces, and words of mutual comfort. The in¬ 
terview between these devoted women was beheld by the Holy Tribunal, 
with a rigid composure of countenance, undisturbed even by a glance of dis¬ 
pleasure, and so completely had superstition and habit subdued the strong- 


HISTORY* 73 

feat emotions of the human breast, that not a single expression of sympathy 
escaped from the multitude a't witnessing a scene which, in other circum¬ 
stances, would have harrowed up the feelings of the spectators and driven 
them to a mutiny. 

The foregoing are but samples of what was taking place all over Europe, 
during the great struggle for freedom of conscience. In the Netherlands, 
the Inquisition was introduced in the 13th century, and severely enforced 
under the Spanish Emperors, Charles V and his son Philip II. The latter 
was probably the most inflexible and bigoted tyrant of modern history. He 
it was who replied to one of his subjects on the way to the stake, who asked: 
“ Canst thou, sire, thus witness the tortures of thy innocent subjects ? ” “I 
would carry the wood to burn my own son, were he as wicked as thou.” 
That he would have done so is amply proven by the fact, that the evidence 
scarcely admits of a doubt that his son Carlos did eventually die by poison, 
administered by the direction of his father. 

The struggle of the Netherlanders for civil and religious liberty was long 
and obstinate, and involved them in a war of eighty years’ duration. For¬ 
tunate for them, their oppression awoke the strong arm and patriotic heart 
of William the Silent, Prince of Orange, without whose wise guidance the 
final victory could never have been won. 

In 1567, the Duke of Alva was sent to the Netherlanders by Philip, to act 
as Governor-General. On arriving there he established what was called the 
Council of Troubles, and renamed by the people the Council of Blood. The 
proceedings of this body were summary in the extreme, and its justice may 
be fairly estimated by an anecdote of one of its members, Counciller Hes- 
sels. This worthy was accustomed to sleep through the dry and uninter¬ 
esting evidence in defence of the accused, and awaking with a start at the 
conclusion of the testimony, shout out, “ To the gallows with him! To the 
gallows with him!” It would be a useless labor to relate particular in¬ 
stances of the atrocities committed by a tribunal composed of men like this. 
“ Columns and stakes in every street, the door-posts of private houses, the 
fences in the fields were laden with human carcasses strangled, burned, be¬ 
headed. The orchards in the country bore on many a tree the hideous 
fruit of human bodies.” This is the moderate testimony of the historian 
Motley. Suffice it, that at last “ Liberty did triumph,” and the power of the 
Spanish throne was driven from the Netherlands forever. 

But a little more than a century has elapsed since the fires of the Inqui¬ 
sition were kindled for the last time. The progress of civilization makes it 
seem impossible that such scenes should ever be enacted again. Of the 
thousands who perished, the names of but few have come down to us. 
Their martyrdom was suffered, that men might come at last to know the 
truth of that which was said so many centuries before by Gamaliel, “ That 
if these doctrines be new, and of the world, and men pleased by their nov¬ 
elty, they will soon die of themselves, but, if they be from God, no mortal 
will be able to stop their progress.” 

The Reign of Terror in Paris.—The following description of this 
exciting period in French history is from the stenographic report of a lecture 
delivered by Mr. John L. Stoddard in the Academy of Music, Brooklyn, 
New York: 

“A most deplorable state of affairs was that brought on by the revolution 
in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Louis XYI and Marie An¬ 
toinette had attempted to escape, but were captured and brought back to 


74 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the royal palace in the Tuileries. Hardly had Louis entered Paris when he 
apologized for his escape and swore to his people that in future he would 
he faithful to the nation and carry into effect all the decrees of the govern¬ 
ment. Great was the festival upon the return of the king. At the Champs 
de Mars, France and Paris rejoiced at Louis’ return, and made memorable 
the occasion by numerous signs of great joy. Balloons were sent up, from 
which were scattered far and wide copies of the constitution which the ruler 
had promised to obey. Yet when Louis returned to his chamber he is said 
to have wept. He could not accept or reject the constitution, and could 
only only cry out, ‘ What can I do ? ’ It was almost the united wish of the 
French people that there should be a limited monarchy. But there came the 
advocates of a republic who would not believe that the King meant to keep his 
second oath. The crisis was fast approaching. It came at length. Louis 
was taking no measures to defend the realm. In the Tuileries the royalists 
were planning to assert their power, and what wonder was it that the friends 
of Liberty, seeing that the enemy most to be feared was in their own court, 
stirred up the people to strike at the Tuileries and put the conspirators to 
the sword ? They had destroyed the Bastile, taken Versailles, and now came 
the destruction of the Tuileries—the King’s palace. The King had the right 
of veto. He refused to sanction certain decrees of the Assembly. The peo¬ 
ple became aroused and assembled together with their banners and mottoes 
calling for the death of the King, who was no longer the protector of their 
rights. They stormed the palace, and he ordered the gates of the Tuileries 
to be thrown open. Excited and fierce was the mob. They entered the 
room where the King stood. There was Louis surrounded by the petition¬ 
ers. Physically he was no coward, however; otherwise he was weak and 
incompetent. ‘ Sire, fear nothing,’ said a man in the crowd. ‘Put your 
hand on my heart and see if I am afraid,’ was Louis’ reply. ‘ France has 
no better friend,’ he added. ‘ Then put on the bonnet rouge,’ cried the 
mob, and Louis, with the red cap on his head, was led to the window to be 
seen by the crowd without. * If you love the people, drink to their health,’ 
said a man, as he handed the King a glass of wine. Louis did as he was re¬ 
quested. The palace was cleared by the guards, and as the King saw re¬ 
flected in one ol the broken mirrors the red cap, he exclaimed to Mjtrie An - 
tomette: ‘ It was not to see you thus insulted that I brought you here from 
Vienna.’ The allied sovereigns issued a proclamation that the inhabitants 
of the towns and cities of France would be visited with war, and all Paris 
given over to destruction, if the Tuileries were destroyed. But this threat 
had little effect. From the tower of St. Germain Church rang forth the call 
to arms. All night long sounded the alarm bells from the same tower that 
gave the signal for the St. Bartholomew massacre many years before. But 
now a different cry was heard—it was the cry of the people fighting for their 
liberty. It was the 10th of August. The Swiss Guard remained faithful to 
the King, when early in the morning the populace rushed into the garden of 
the Tuileries, shouting: ‘Down with the tyrant!’ Marie Antoinette heard 
the shouts, and is reported to have said: ‘ 0 my God, they are insulting the 
King.’ She drew a pistol from the belt of a grenadier, and going to Louis 
and handing him the weapon, said: ‘ Now is the time to show yourself a 
King.’ An officer advised Louis to go at once to the Assembly, which he 
did. As he passed along, a faithful soldier said to him: ‘ Be sure of this, 
sire, the man who kills you dies the moment after.’ Louis might have said 
in reply that it would be better to have the would-be murderer die the mo¬ 
ment before, but it was no time for jest. The royal family entered the 


HISTORY. 


75 

Assembly chamber and found seats in the reporters’ gallery. The Assem¬ 
bly was in session, and a vote was passed to suspend the King from office. 
The King was calm, dignified, unmoved. He said a few words to a messen¬ 
ger, who left the room. He was intercepted, and said that his orders were to 
bring the King his dinner. It was brought, and Louis ate heartily with 
death staring him in the face. In the meantime, the crowd had burst into 
the Tuileries, massacred the Swiss Guard and made prisoners of the Royal¬ 
ists. The royal family was imprisoned. Then came the King’s trial and 
the verdict of death. Six hundred soldiers followed the carriage. It must 
have been an impressive scene. Despite tho treachery and the villainy, 
there was something sad in the sight of a dethroned monarch being led to 
his death. It was a solemn trial. ‘ You are about to give a lesson to all the 
nations,’ said the judge, when he had informed Louis that he was accused 
of treason. The judges each voted what should be the punishment. When 
the president arose to announce the vote, there had been 387 for death, a 
majority of 53 out of the 721 votes cast. The King was taken to the Place 
de la Concorde, a lofty platform was erected, where now stands the obelisk. 
‘ I die innocent. I forgive the authors of my death; I pray that my blood 
may not fall on France, but that it may appease the wrath of my enemies,’ 
were his last words, and the soul of Louis was ushered into eternity. Then 
came the Reign of Terror. The revolutionists were in a desperate situation. 
All France rose en masse. Young men rushed to the army, women made 
clothing, the children made lint for the wounded, while the old men in¬ 
spired a feeling of terrible hatred, and the revolution continued until the 
allied forces were drawn from the country. There were two parties in Paris 
struggling for supremacy. The Jacobins were in power, and were the idols ot 
the people. Dan ton, a natural leader of the people, believed that the only 
way to save France, was to destroy all who were deemed the least dangerous. 
A tribunal was formed to decide who should be guillotined. First suffered 
the Royalists, then came the Girondists. Marat was a member of the trium¬ 
virate. He was repulsive in appearance. He had the instincts of a tiger, 
and was continually calling for new heads for the guillotine. Charlotte Cor- 
day! the beautiful heroine of the Revolution, remarkable for her beauty and 
spotless character, resolved to strike down the Jacobin leaders. She called 
upon Marat; found him in the bath; gave him a list of names for death, and 
as he read them, with one blow of the dagger killed him. The act of Char¬ 
lotte Corday was a mistake. She only gave greater impetus to the terror 
which reigned, instead of bringing about peace, which she had intended. 
‘ She has killed us, but she taught us how to die,’ said the enemy. Great 
was the courage of the twenty-two Girondists as they met their doom, and 
on their way to the Place de Greve, in the true spirit of French republican¬ 
ism, they sang the ‘ Marseillaise ’ and continued to sing, the song growing 
fainter as the numbers decreased. In thirty-one minutes the twenty-two 
Girondist leaders were beheaded. Their memory was cherished by all true 
friends of liberty. Madame Roland, the noble patriot, soon after yielded up 
her life, and she it was who gave utterance to the famous sentence, ‘ Oh, 
Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!’ The Reign of Terror 
was a constant succession of cruel tragedies. Marie Antoinnette was con¬ 
fined to a cell where she suffered every indignity, and was then taken in a 
common cart to the guillotine where, looking upon the Tuileries, the former 
homo of the proud queen, she died at the hands of the executioner, and her 
body was thrown into a coffin that cost 7 francs ($1.40.) To die thus was 
terrible, but to die and leave her children in horrible captivity, was more 


% CYCLOPEDIA OP irsPPUL KNOWLEDGE. 


terrible. The story of the little Dauphin is the most pathetic. The Dau¬ 
phin was placed in solitary confinement, poorly fed and miserably clad, 
where he finally died at the age of ten years. Historians differ as to the 
death of this young Prince. Robespierre was the last of the leaders of the 
Jacobins. He was a thin man, with rasping voice. There was nothing at¬ 
tractive in his appearance. In the Assembly he was for some time of little 
account; but gradually he made for himself a position, and nice observers 
noted in him a quality of fanatical earnestness and conviction, in virtue of 
which they surmised for him a great career. * This man,’ said Mirabeau, 

‘ will go far, for he believes every word he says.’ He became a merciless 
fanatic, with supreme power. He was ready to send to the guillotine his 
best friends, if they crossed his path. Robespierre, as was natural, had 
many enemies, and in particular, the numerous friends of Danton were 
eager to avenge his death. A conspiracy was organized against the tyrant, 
and after a scene of fierce struggle, his arrest was accomplished. He was 
struck down in the Hotel de Ville, and as he lay on the table bleeding from 
his wounds not a hand was stretched out to give him water. The multitude 
spat upon him and insulted him in every manner possible, but his courage 
never faltered, and he was taken to the guillotine to suffer the same death 
which he had brought to so many. When the knife fell that severed his 
head from his body loud and unanimous were the cheers that went up from 
the crowd. ‘ Yes, Robespierre, there is a God,’ cried out an old man. But 
with his death the Reign of Terror did not end. In three days 114 victims 
suffered death. Finally came Napoleon, the rescuer of the people from im¬ 
pending anarchy. The young man was summoned by the Assembly to take 
command of the forces to put down the revolution. ‘ Yes, I am in the habit 
of accomplishing all that I undertake,’ were his words, when questioned as 
to the success of the enterprise. But he in turn, led on by ambition, founded 
for a brief time a kind of Roman empire, and he himself became the Caesar 
of the Nineteenth Century.” 

Braddock’s Defeat.—The dispute with the French in respect to the 
Ohio lands, which commenced in Virginia, waB vigorously taken up in Eng¬ 
land, and two regiments were at once ordered to America to maintain the 
claim of the British Crown to the territory in dispute. These troops arrived 
in the early part of 1755, under the command of General Braddock, who in¬ 
vited Washington to serve during the campaign as a volunteer aide-de-camp. 
This invitation he at once accepted, and joined the regiment on its march to 
Fort Cumberland. At this post the expedition was unfortunately detained 
until near the middle of June, waiting for teams and army stores, and by 
the time they were ready to march Washington was prostrated by a serious 
illness, but, with his characteristic spirit, he refused to remain at the fort, 
and accompanied the army in a covered wagon. The object of the campaign 
being to capture Fort Duquesne by a rapid march and possible surprise, 
Washington advised the general to leave his heavy artillery and baggage 
behind, and to press forward with a chosen body of troops as expeditiously 
as possible. This advice being adopted, twelve hundred men were selected, 
to be commanded by General Braddock in person, and to advance with the 
utmost dispatch. But much to the disappointment of Washington, the 
march was not made with the speed or caution the exigencies of the case re¬ 
quired. Writing to his brother, Washington said: “I found that instead of 
pushing on with vigor, without regarding a little rough road, they were 
halting to level every molehill and to erect bridges over every brook.” At 


HISTORY. 


77 

Little Meadows Washington was so overcome by sickness that he had to 
remain behind for a few days until the arrival of Colonel Dunbar with the 
remainder of the army. He again reached the main army on the day before 
that eventful battle in our early history. This was on the 9th of July, when 
General Braddock, having crossed the Monongahela River, was pressing 
forward to Fort Duquesne without caution or preparation to prevent sur¬ 
prise. Earnestly Washington expostulated with him and explained to him 
the peculiar warfare of the wily savage, but to this advice of the colonial 
militia officer the vain and arrogant Braddock gave a contemptuous reply 
that he had nothing to fear from French or Indians, and that he commanded 
British troops whose bravery and tactics were superior to that of any savage 
foe. Thus he marched his troops on without a single scout until within a 
few miles of Fort Duquesne, when suddenly they fell into that terrible and. 
deadly ambush so familiar to history as one of the most stupid and obstinate 
blunders ever made by a military man. Here the hidden foe of French and 
Indians in the high grass and behind trees poured their deadly volleys of 
musketry into the broken and disordered ranks, and with dead and dying 
strewing the ground in every direction, the greatest consternation prevailed, 
and officers and soldiers alike went down or fled, unable to see or fight their 
foe. Washington and his Virginia militia alone were cool, and they alone 
saved the remnant of the British army from entire destruction. Skilled in 
the Indian mode of warfare, the Virginia troops took to the shelter of the 
trees, and by their well-directed fire held the savages in check and stopped 
the relentless pursuit and butchery. Braddock was soon shot down, and 
the entire defence devolved on Washington, who rode through the hottest 
of the engagement and had two horses killed under him, and four bullets 
passed through his coat. It seems indeed a Providential interposition that 
saved him from the fate of those around him. 

Never before was an army more completely surprised in daylight, or 
thrown into greater dismay or disorder. A thousand deadly bullets were 
whistling through the forest, and hundreds of panic-stricken soldiers writhed 
in death agonies. This was the fearful surprise, the awful ambush against 
which Washington had continually warned Braddock, who had time in his 
dying agonies, while being carried to the camp of Dunbar, to realize his 
fatal mistake, if he did not even fully realize it on the field of his terrible 
defeat, while Washington’s heroic deeds upon that bloody field stand out as 
one of the brightest pages of his renown. 

The Plague of London.— The great plague of London in 1665 forms 
a climax in the history of diseases. Many, with Milton or Defoe, looked 
upon the plague as the judgment of Heaven upon the misdeeds of their 
rulers. London in the winter and spring of 1664-’65 was crowded with people; 
in the West End the wealthy and noble gathered around Westminster and 
Whitehall, in the city and the eastern suburbs trade had revived. The 
river was full of ships, the streets filled with an overflowing tide of life. 
Defoe has painted with his realistic pen the slow rise of the pestilence, the 
first alarm, the hopes, the fears, the progress of the scourge secretly and 
then openly, the flight of the citizens, the horrid gloom, the death cries, the 
yawning graves, crime, woe, the decline of the pestilence, the boundless 
joy of the survivors, the return of the impenitent Court. For a long time it 
had been known in London that the plague had been raging on the Conti¬ 
nent, brought from the East by some unlucky trader; but in the winter of 
J .664 only a few cases had been noticed in tbe capital, yet these were enough 


78 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

to excite a deep anxiety. But the winter came on sharp and bleak, and 
seemed to kill the disease, as if it could only flourish in the hot air of sum¬ 
mer. It disappeared wholly. It revived in May—a cool, pleasant month; 
it lingered m the filth and squalor of St. Giles’s, and in June broke into 
fearful activity. The pestilence had come; the citizens who were able 
closed their houses and shops and fled. The Court had gone to Oxford; for 
weeks the streets were filled with crowds of people moving to the country 
cm horseback, on foot, carrying their furniture, goods, wares, the rich and 
poor mingled in a common calamity. 

But many were forced to stay, and on these the pestilence fell with 
almost unaccountable fury. The hot weather of July roused it to virulence; 
in August it was fearful; in September the horrors told of it surpass belief. 
It first appeared with a tumor on the breast or under the arm, hard, pain- 
ful, horrible—the plague-spot. The physicians when they saw the fearful 
omen would cry, “Lift up your eyes to God!” In a few hours it was fatal. 
Sometimes the patient sank under a raging fever, headache; sometimes 
faded away in a swift decline, almost painless; some seemed to die of 
fright; some hanged themselves to escape it; some were seized in the 
streets, and died before they could reach their own doors. In September 
8,000 persons died weekly, and 60,000 it was believed were infected. The 
Lord Mayor of the city, his sheriff and aldermen, remained bravely at their 
post; they did all that man could do. They ordered, when too late, the 
streets to be purified; funerals—or rather burials—were only to be per¬ 
formed at night, when there was to be no tolling of bells, no outward cere¬ 
monial. But at night the fatal cart began its rounds, and at every infected 
house the cry was heard, “ Bring out your dead! ” They were thrown 
together in huge piles; in the churchyards deep pits were dug, and here by 
the gleam of torches the bodies were thrown in and lightly covered with 
earth. 

Every house that was infected was isolated; a watchman stood at the 
entrance; no one was suffered to go in or out except the physician; upon 
the door was placed a large red cross inscribed: “ Lord have mercy on us.” 
They might well cry for mercy. The air seemed tainted; grass grew in once 
crowded streets; the trade of the capital was lost; the ships hung idly in the 
Thames; the miserable poor died by thousands, and saved the city from the 
cost of feeding them, which it never has failed to do. The recreant King 
and Court would fly from the scene of duty, but the city officials showed no 
trace of fear. The Mayor was constantly in the streets; even the constables 
and watchmen were seldom at rest; many of them died. Day and night, at 
last, an observer relates, the labor of burial went on. Sancroft, Dean of St. 
Paul’s, had fled to Tunbridge; his canons remained, and some of their 
letters to the Dean still exist—the cry of utter despair. 

Whole streets of houses were shut up and deserted; men fled from each 
other when they met; the money paid to the butcher or baker was invariably 
lumigated; thieves wandered through the deserted shops and dwellings, 
and sometimes died in them. Fearful tales were told of nurses who 
smothered and robbed their patients; of deeds of horror that were never 
punished; of the infected who ran shrieking about the streets, and fell 
dead; of homes in which all had died together. August, September, passed 
with growing horrors; in November the colder weather seemed to check the 
disease, and many who came back too hastily were infected and died. At 
last in December the great deliverance came; the pestilence had ceased. A 
wild, a fearful joy spread over the afflicted city; its people came back once 


HISTORY. 


79 


more to the desolate scene, maddened with a strange exhilaration. Those 
who survived were crazed with the joy of living. Once more the great city 
was thronged with the rich, busy, gay; the Court and King came back; a 
rigid law was passed to punish Dissenters; the revels and crimes of White¬ 
hall began again; but nothing was done by Court or King to prevent the 
return of that awful scourge that had so recently passed away. A mightier 
power intervened. A new calamity seemed to prevent a recurrence of the 
old. The great fire of London soon followed, swept over the tainted ground, 
consumed churches and church-yards—St. Paul’s and St. Mary’s—shops, 
warehouses, palaces, hovels, cleansed many a narrow close, purified many a 
scene of horror. The city was rebuilt with wider streets, better buildings. 
Perhaps its citizens had learned neatness and propriety; but it is certain that 
the plague never came again, and that by the labors of modern science the 
vast capital has been made one of the healthiest and most fortunate of 
cities. 

The Burning 1 of Moscow. —The following graphic description of 
this thrilling episode in the career of the first Napoleon is extracted from an 
exceedingly interesting book of travels entitled “Red-Letter Days Abroad,” 
by John L. Stoddard (Boston: James R. Osgood & Co.): 

It was by moonlight on a summer evening that we went forth from 
our hotel, and, standing near St. Basil’s Church, took a farewell look 
at the Kremlin. Never before had Moscow seemed to me such an Orien¬ 
tal city; for its gilded towers, sparkling in the moonbeams, recalled 
the Turkish minarets which I had often watched thus from the Bosphorus. 
I thought then of the night which Napoleon passed within those Kremlin 
walls—apparently a conqueror, but really on the verge of a sublime catas¬ 
trophe. “ We shall see,” he had exclaimed on entering the Kremlin, “ what 
the Russians will do. If they refuse to treat with me, our winter quarters 
are assured. We shall give to the world the singular spectacle of an army 
wintering in an enemy’s country. In the springtime will come mild 
weather and victory! ” Napoleon believed that his genius had foreseen 
everything. It had, indeed, foreseen every possibility, save one, namely, 
the suicide of Moscow! As the exultant French entered the city which 
seemed to them the goal of their desires, they found it a desert without food 
or inhabitants. Even here the Russian army persisted in its policy of 
retreating and never fighting; for well it knew that in the field the Eagles 
of France moved only to victory. Its population of three hundred thousand 
had fled, and only some liberated convicts and abandoned wretches watched 
the triumphant entry of the conqueror. It was appalling. The French 
were starving; and Moscow was empty! But this was only the commence¬ 
ment. 

Scarcely had Napoleon entered the Kremlin, when the liberated convicts 
Oegan their work, and those flames burst forth whose lurid after-glow was 
to light the path to Waterloo and St. Helena. There was something sublime 
in this act of the Russians. To thwart the otherwise invincible Napoleon, 
they gave up to the devouring element their ancient, beautiful and holy 
city, although it was the idol of every Russian heart, and though her shrines 
were to him the holiest in the world, hallowed by seven centuries of his¬ 
torical association! This fearful sea of flame spoke, therefore, in a million 
fiery tongues of the grandest sacrifice ever made to national feeling. 

Starting from eleven different places, the conflagration raged for three 
days with terrific fierceness. The Russians had removed all the engines. 


80 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


and the dismayed French could do almost nothing to check it, though the in¬ 
cendiaries were shot down like dogs. But what words can describe the 
horror of that scene ? Amid the glorious palaces and churches resplen¬ 
dent in the flames, the convicts and abandoned wretches ran like vermin, 
engaged in universal pillage, and covering their filthy rags with furs and 
costly robes. What the fire spared, the greedy clutch of ravishers de¬ 
stroyed; and works of elegance and luxury went down either in the awful 
holocaust or in the vortex of remorseless war. No less than twenty thou¬ 
sand Russian soldiers who had been left in the Moscow hospitals were 
burned to death. 

What wonder that Napoleon, though quartered in the Kremlin, now 
sought to make peace with his peculiar foe ? But now the Russians laughed, 
and Kutuzotf, their leader, answered: “ I have but just opened the cam¬ 
paign, for now I see approaching my ally, Winter 1 ” And then commenced 
that terrible retreat, whose horrors have baffled the power of brush and 
pencil to portray. All the annals of war furnish no parallel to the story of 
that march, which has been forever frozen into the memory of man. The 
frost and snow made frightful havoc with the host, which in the most awful 
scenes of carnage had never blanched. Such was their agony for food that 
officers and soldiers alike fought fur the carcasses of the horses as they fell, 
and ate them raw. 

Freezing, yet struggling to the last against the eddying snow and pierc¬ 
ing wind, they staggered on, till one after another fell from the ranks, to be 
coffined only in the shroud of ice woven around them by the pitiless storm- 
king. The exact extent of the French loss is unknown, but a Russian ac¬ 
count states that when the icy mantle of the Beresina had melted in the 
spring, there were found in the river alone thirty-six thousand dead bodies! 
They were the last ghastly remnant of the one hundred and thirty thousand 
who perished on that fearful march, from cold, hunger, and fatigue! 

Chronological American History.— 923. Discovery of Greenland 

by the Icelanders. 

1435. Columbus bom at Genoa, in Italy. 

1492. Oct. 27, Cuba discovered. 

1494. Columbus discovers Jamaica. 

1497. Newfoundland and Labrador discovered by the Cabots. 

1498. Aug. 1, Columbus discovers the South American continent. 

1499. South America visited by Americus Yespucius. 

1500. The Amazon at its mouth discovered by Pincon. 

1512. April 2, Florida discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon. 

1513. Sept. 26, Pacific Ocean discovered by Yasco Nunez de Balboa. 

1516. Rio de la Plata discovered by Juan Riaz de Solis. 

1519. March 13, Cortez lands at Tabasco in Mexico. 

1520. Magellan discovers Patagonia. 

De Ayllon discovers Carolina. 

1522. Bermuda discovered by Juan Bermudez. 

1537. California discovered by Cortez. 

1539. Ferdinand de Soto heads an expedition to conquer Florida. 

1541. De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 

1562. Coligny attempts to found a colony of French Protestants in Florida. 

1563. Slaves first imported into the West Indies by the English. 

1565. St. Augustine founded by the Spaniards. 

3.576. Elizabeth’s and Frobisher’s Straits discovered by Martin Frobisher, 


HISTORY . 


81 


1584. Sir Walter Raleigh dispatches two vessels to Virginia. 

1586. Discovery of Davis’s Straits. 

1602. May 15, Cape Cod discovered and named by Bartholomew Gosnold. 

1603. Coast of Maine visited by Martin Pring. 

1605. Port Royal, Acadie [Nova Scotia], founded by the French under De 
Monts. 

1608. July 3, Quebec founded by Champlain. 

1609. Hudson River discovered by Henry Hudson. 

1610. Delaware Bay named in honor of Lord de la War, who visited the 

bay at that time and died on his vessel at his mouth. 

1611. Lake Champlain discovered by Champlain. 

1613. Pocahontas weds John Rolfe. 

1614. New York settled by the Dutch on Manhattan Island (now New York) 

and at Fort Orange (Albany). 

1616. Tobacco first cultivated in Virginia. 

1619. June 19, first colonial assembly in Virginia. 

1620. Slaves first introduced into Virginia by the Dutch. 

Nov. 10, the Mayflower anchors in Cape Cod harbor; first white child 
born in New England. 

Dec. 11, landing of the Puritans at Plymouth. 

1621. May 12, first marriage at Plymouth. 

1623. Maine and New Hampshire settled by the English. New Jersey set¬ 
tled by the Swedes and Dutch. 

1627. Delaware settled by Swedes and Finns. 

1628. Salem, Mass., founded by John Endicott. 

1629. Charlestown founded by the Massachusetts Bay colony. 

1634. Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore. 

1636. Hartford settled. Providence, R. I., founded by Roger Williams. 

1638. New Haven founded by Eaton and Davenport. Harvard college 

founded. 

1639. First printing press set up at Cambridge, Mass., by Stephen Day. 

1640. Montreal founded. 

1648. First execution for witchcraft. NeAV London settled. 

1650. Harvard college chartered. Constitution of Maryland settled. 

1663. Carolina granted to Lord Clarendon by Charles II. 

1665. June 12, New York city incorporated. 

1672. Charleston, S. C., founded. First copyright granted by Massachusetts. 
1675. June 24, commencement of King Philip’s war; attack on Swanzey. 
1681. Grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn. 

1687. First printing-press established near Philadelphia by William Brad¬ 
ford. 

1693. First printing-press established in New York, by William Bradford. 
1699. Kidd the pirate apprehended at Boston. 

1701. Yale College founded at Saybrook. Commencement of Queen Anne’s 
war. 

1703. Culture of silk introduced into Carolina. Duty of £4 laid on imported 

negroes in Massachusetts. 

1704. First newspaper (Boston News Letter) published at Boston, by Bar¬ 

tholomew Green. 

1709. First printing-press in Connecticut, set up at New London, by Thomas 

Short. 

1710. First colonial post-office at New York. 

1712. Free schools founded in Charlestown, Mass, 


82 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

1714. First schooner built at Cape Ann. 

1717. New Orleans founded by the French. 

1719. First Presbyterian church founded in New York. 

1721. Inoculation for small-pox introduced into New England. 

1725. First newspaper in New York (New York Gazette), published by Wil* 
liam Bradford. 

1729. North and South Carolina separated. 

1732. Tobacco made a legal tender in Maryland at Id. per pound, and corn 

at 20d. per bushel. 

Feb. 22, George Washington born. 

1733. Georgia settled by Oglethorpe. 

1738. College founded at Princeton, N. J. 

1742. Faneuil Hall erected at Boston-by Peter Faneuil. 

1744. King George’s war begins. 

1750. First theatrical performance in Boston. 

1754. Columbia College in New York founded. 

Beginning of the old French war. 

1755. July 9, Braddock’s defeat. 

Sept. 8, battle of Lake George. 

1757. Fort William Henry taken by the French. 

1759. Niagara, Ticonderogo, and Crown Point taken by the English, in July. 
Sept. 13, battle on the Plains of Abraham; Wolf and Montcalm slain. 
Sept. 18, Quebec surrenders to the English. 

1764. April 21, Louisiana ordered to be given up to Spain. 

1769. Dartmouth College incorporated. 

1773. Dec. 16, destruction of 342 chests of tea in Boston harbor. 

1775. Several ships of the line and ten thousand troops ordered to America. 
April 19, battle of Lexington. 

Congress votes to raise an army of twenty thousand men. 

June 15, George Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 
American army. 

June 17, battle of Bunker’s Hill. 

July 12, Washington takes command of the army at Cambridge. 

1776. March 17, the British evacuate Boston. 

April, Washington removes his army to New York. 

June 28, repulse of the British at Charleston. 

July 4, Declaration of Independence. 

Aug. 27, battle of Long Island; the British victorious. 

Washington abandons New York city; the British take possession, 
Sept. 15. 

Oct. 28, battle of White Plains. 

1777. Lafayette arrives from France with troops and supplies; Congress 

gives him a Major-General’s commission, July 31. 

Aug. 16, battle of Bennington. 

Sept. 11, battle of Brandywine. 

Oct. 17, surrender of the British army under Burgoyne. 

1778. June 18, the British evacuate Philadelphia. 

July 11, arrival of a French fleet under Count d’Estaing. 

1780. May 12, surrender of Gen. Lincoln and American army at Charleston. 
Sept. 23, treason of Gen. Arnold, and arrest of Major Andre. 

1781. Bank of North America established. 

Oct. 19, surrender of Cornwallis and 7,000 troops at Yorktown. 

1782. April 17, Holland acknowledges our independence. 


HISTORY . 


83 

1782. Nov. 30, preliminaries of peace between the United States and Great 

Britain signed at Paris. 

1783. Independence of the United States acknowledged by Sweden, Feb. 5; 

by Denmark, Feb. 25; by Spain, March 24; and by Bussia, in July. 
April 11, peace proclaimed by Congress; April 19, announced to the 
army by Washington. 

Nov. 25, New York evacuated by the British. 

1786. Shay’s insurrection in Massachusetts. 

1789. George Washington elected President; inaugurated April 30. 

1793. Washington re-elected President. Death of John Hancock. 

1794. Insurrection in Pennsylvania. 

1797. March 4, John Adams inaugurated President. 

1799. Dec. 14, death of Washington. 

1800. Seat of government removed to the city of Washington. 

1801. March 4, Thomas Jefferson inaugurated President. 

1804. Alexander Hamilton killed by Aaron Burr in a duel. 

1807. Trial of Aaron Burr for treason. Steamboat invented by Kobert Fulton. 

1808. Jan. 1, the slave trade abolished. 

1809. March 4, James Madison inaugurated President. 

1811. Nov. 7, battle of Tippecanoe. 

1812. June 18, war declared. 

1813. May 27, battle of Fort George. 

Sept. 10, Commodore Perry’s victory on Lake Erie. 

1814. Aug. 25, the British occupy the city of Washington, and bum the 

Capitol. 

Sept. 11, Macdonough’s victory on Lake Champlain. 

1815. Jan. 8, battle of New Orleans. 

March, war declared with Algiers. 

1817. March 4, James Monroe inaugurated President. 

1819. First steamship sailed for Europe. 

1821. Gas first used for lighting streets in the United States, at Baltimore. 
1825. March 4, John Quincy Adams inaugurated President. 

1829. March 4, Andrew Jackson inaugurated President. 

May 2, hail falls in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to the depth of twelve inches. 
1833. March 4, Andrew Jackson inaugurated President for a second term. 

May 16, Santa Anna inaugurated President of Mexico. 

1835. Dec. 16, great fire in New York. 

Seminole war in Florida begun. 

1837. March 4, Martin Van Buren inaugurated President. 

1841. March 4, William Henry Harrison inaugurated President. 

April 4, Death of General Harrison, John Tyler succeeds to the execu¬ 
tive. 

1845. March 4, James Knox Polk inaugurated President. 

June 8, death of Andrew Jackson. 

1846. May 13, proclamation of war existing with Mexico. 

Oct. 25, Tobasco in Mexico bombarded by Commodore Perry. 

1847. Sept. 14, the American army enters the city of Mexico. 

1848. Feb. 23, John Quincy Adams expires in the Capitol at Washington. 

1849. March 5, inauguration of Zachary Taylor as President. 

May 15, the cholera breaks out in New York. 

1850. July 9, death of President Taylor at Washington. 

July 10, Millard Fillmore takes the oath of office as President. 

Sept. 18, fugitive slave bill passed. 


84 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

1852. June 29, Henry Clay dies at Washington. 

Oct. 24, Daniel Webster dies at Marshfield. 

1853. March 4, Franklin Pierce inaugurated President. 

July 14, Crystal Palace at New York opened. 

1856. May 22, Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, violently as¬ 

saulted in the Senate chamber at Washington, by Preston C. Brooks, 
representative from South Carolina. 

1857. March 4, James Buchanan inaugurated President. 

1858. Aug. 5, news of the successful laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable 

is received throughout the country with great demonstrations of joy. 
The cable was placed in mid-ocean July 29; the Agamemnon reached 
Valencia, Aug. 4, and the Niagara Trinity Bay, Aug. 5. 

1859. Oct. 6, John Brown’s seizure of Harper’s Ferry; he is taken, and hung 

Dec. 2. 

1860. May 18, Lincoln nominated by Republican convention at Chicago. 

Nov. 6, Abraham Lincoln elected President. 

1861. Feb. 4, Seceders’ convention at Montgomery, Ala.; they call them¬ 

selves “ Confederate States of America,” and adopt a constitution. 
Feb. 14, Jeff. Davis made President of the Confederates; they raise 
troops and arm for war. 

April 14, Fort Sumter surrenders after two days’ bombardment by the 
Confederates. 

1862. Feb. 1, Gen. Grant takes Fort Donelson with over 13,000 prisoners, 

after four days of tremendous fighting. 

Feb. 22, Jeff. Davis inaugurated rebel President for six years. 

May 31, battle of Fair Oaks, McClellan’s advance defeated severely by 
rebels. 

June 6, great naval battle in the river before Memphis; rebel fleet 
nearly annihilated; Memphis surrendered on the same day to Com¬ 
modore Davis. 

July 1, battle of Malvern Hill, last of the Seven Days’ Battles; rebels 
repulsed with great loss, and the position on the James maintained. 
Total Union losses iu seven days, 15,244. 

July 1, President Lincoln calls for 600,000 volunteers. 

Aug. 29 and 30, Gen. Pope defeated at Bull Run after very heavy 
fighting, and falls back. 

Sept. 16 and 17, battle of Antietam; rebels defeated, losing 25,000. 
Sept. 22, Emancipation Proclamation announced for Jan. 1, 1863. 

1863. Jan. 1, the definite Emancipation Proclamation issued. 

May 1-5, battle of Chancellorsville; indecisive, but great losses on 
both sides. 

July 1-3, battle of Gettysburg; Lee defeated and retreats at once 
southward. 

July 4, unconditional surrender of Vicksburg and 31,000 men to Gen. 
Grant. 

July 13-18, draft riots in New York city, several negroes tortured and 
hung by mob, and much burning and robbing; 1,300 rioters killed, 
and riots put down. 

Oct. 17, President Lincoln calls for 300,000 more men. 

1864. March 17, Gen. Grant assumes supreme command of all the armies of 

the United States. 

May 5-6, the tremendous battle of the Wilderness; resulting in Lee’s 
retiring. 


HISTORY. 


85 


1864. June 7, Mr. Lincoln renominated at Baltimore. 

July 16, gold about this time at its highest in New York, viz.: 284 per 
cent. 

Aug. 5, Admiral Farragut’s splendid victory, in forcing his way into 
Mobile Harbor. 

Nov. 8, Lincoln and Johnson elected. Gen. McClellan resigns his 
commission. 

1865. April 2, Grant attacks heavily along his whole line; Lee decisively 

defeated, Petersburg and Bichmond evacuated at night, and Davis 
flees. 

April 9, Lee surrenders remains of his army; being 26,115 men. 

April 14, Booth assassinates President Lincoln, and his confederate 
Payne tries to kill Mr. Seward; Mr. Lincoln dies at 7:22 next morning. 

April 25, Booth discovered in a barn in Va., and refusing to surrender, 
is shot and dies in four hours. 

May 10, Jeff. Davis captured in female disguise at Irwinsville, Ga. 

July 7, the assassins Harold, Payne, Atzeroth and Mrs. Surratt, hung 
at Washington; Arnold, Mudd, Spangle and McLaughlin imprisoned 
for life. 

Dec. 18, the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, officially declared slavery 
abolished throughout the United States, 27 States having ratified 
the Constitutional Amendment. 

1866. July 4, extensive conflagration in Portland, Me.; one third of the city 

burnt, and property amounting to $10,000,000. 

July 27, laying of the Atlantic cable successively completed. 

1868. Nov. 3, Gen. Grant was elected President, and Schuyler Colfax Vice- 
President. 

1871. Oct. 8, commenced and continued for several days, in Chicago, HI., 
one of the greatest conflagrations of modern times, in which more 
than 250 persons lost their lives, and destroyed property to the 
enormous amount of $196,000,000. 

1876. Centennial anniversary of American Independence. 

1877. March 4, Butherford B. Hayes inaugurated President. 

1881. March 4, James A. Garfield inaugurated President. 

July 2, President Garfield shot by Charles J. Guiteau at Washington. 

Sept. 19 President Garfield died at Long Branch. 

Sept. 20, Chester A. Arthur inaugurated President. 

1885. March 4, Grover Cleveland inaugurated President. 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


The Lion. —The lion is chiefly an inhabitant of Africa, although it is 
found also in some of the wilds of Asia, particularly in certain parts of Ara¬ 
bia, Persia, and India. It is not, in general, an inhabitant of deep forests, 
but rather of open plains, in which the shelter of occasional bushes or thick¬ 
ets may be found. The breeding-place is always in some much secluded 
retreat, in which the young—two, three, or four in a litter—are watched over 
with great assiduity by both parents, and, if necessary, are defended with 

great courage—although, 
in other circumstances, 
the lion is more disposed 
to retire from man than 
to assail him or contend 
with him. When met in an 
open country, he retires 
at first slowly, as if ready 
for battle, but not desirous 
of it; then more swiftly; 
and finally, by rapid 
bounds. If compelled to 
defend himself he mani¬ 
fests great courage. He 
often springs upon his prey 
by a sudden bound accom¬ 
panied with a roar; and it 
is said that if he fails in 
seizing it, he does not usu¬ 
ally pursue, but retires as 
if ashamed; it is certain, 
however, that the lion also often takes its prey by pursuing it, and with great 
perseverance. The animal singled out for pursuit, as a zebra, may be swifter 
of foot than the lion, but greater power of endurance enables him to make 
it his victim. Deer and antelopes are perhaps the most common food of 
lions. Like the rest of the Felidoe, it is a nocturnal animal; its eyes are 
adapted for the night or twilight rather than for the day. It lurks generally 
in its lair during the day, and issues as night comes on, w r hen its tremendous 
roar begins to be heard in the wilderness. It has a horror of fires and torch 
lights, of which travelers in Africa avail themselves, when surrounded by 
prowling lions in the wilderness by night, and sleep in safety. 

The Hippopotamus.— The common hippopotamus is one of the larg¬ 
est of existing quadrupeds, the bulk of its body being little inferior to that 
of the elephant; although its legs are so short that its belly almost touches 
the ground, and its height is not much above five feet. It is extremely 

aquatic in its habits, living mostly in lakes or rivers, often in tidal estuaries, 

-—» — . * 



THE LION. 





NATURAL HISTORY. 


87 


where the saltness of the water compels it to resort to springs for the pur¬ 
pose of drinking, and sometimes even in the sea, although it never proceeds 
to any considerable distance from the shore. Its skin is very thick—on the 
back and sides, more than two inches; it is dark brown, destitute of hair, 
and exudes in great abundance from its numerous pores, a thickish, oily 
fluid, by which it is kept constantly lubricated. The tail is short. The feet 
have each four toes, nearly equal in size, and hoofed. The neck is short and 
thick. The head is very large, with small ears, and small eyes placed high, 
so that they are easily raised above water, without much of the animal being 
exposed to view. The muzzle is very large, rounded, and tumid, with large 



THE HIPPOPOTAMUS. 


nostrils and great lips concealing the large front teeth. The hippopotamus 
cuts grass or corn as if it were done with a scythe, or bites with its strong 
teeth a stem of considerable thickness neatly through. The skull, while it 
is distinguished by remarkable peculiarities, corresponds in the most impor¬ 
tant characters with that of the hog. The respiration of the hippopotamus 
is slow, and thus it is enabled to spend much of its time under water, only 
coming to the surface at intervals to breathe. It swims and dives with great 
ease, and often walks along the bottom, completely under water. Its food 
consists chiefly of the plants which grow in shallow waters, and about the 
margins of lakes and rivers. The hippopotamus is lively and playful m its 
native waters; it soon learns to avoid man, and when it cannot retire among 
reeds for concealment, it dives and remains long under water, raising on y 
its nose to the surface when another breath becomes necessary. The female 
hippopotamus may sometimes be seen swimming with her young one on her 



88 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


back. The animal is generally inoffensive, but is occasionally roused to fits 
of rage, in which it becomes extremely dangerous, particularly to those who 
pursue it in boats. Its voice is loud and harsh, and is likened by Burck- 
hardt to the creaking and groaning of a large wooden door. 

The Elephant.— For ages mankind have been familiar with the gen¬ 
eral character of the elephant, the largest animal on the globe; but travelers 
and naturalists are very frequently discovering new facts in regard to their 
habits, instincts, and sagacity, which give new interest to the character of 
that monster. It is now settled that there are several distinct species. Those 
in equatorial Africa are vastly larger than the variety with which Europeans 
are mostly acquainted in the East Indies. The first have immensely large 
pendulous ears, which when thrown back cover the whole of the shoulders, 
and thus serve an important purpose in fanning and keeping off annoying 
insects. The others have comparatively small ears, less serviceable as pro¬ 
tecting instruments. The African elephant rarely has the two tusks of the 
same size or length. Ranging about in herds they unite in actively uproot¬ 
ing large trees for the sake of the tender leaves they know are only at the 
top. While some pry and lift with the right tusk under a resisting root, 
others push against the trunk and thus heave it over. They are right- 
handed, like all quadrupeds, as well as man. The right tusk, in conse¬ 
quence of being used most, is not only stouter and larger than the left, but 
often broken off at the point from misadventure in their foraging operations. 
Formerly, when large numbers of elephants were trained for war in the 
neighborhood of Calcutta, long rows of huge fellows having heavy iron chains 
thirty feet long fastened to a collar, at word of command would suddenly 
wind them round their trunks and at bidding throw them out horizontally 
with prodigious force, sweeping down whole platoons of soldiers at once 
when in close engagement. 

The Bear. —The American black bear ( Ursus Americarms) is found in 
all parts of North America. Its total length seldom exceeds five feet. The 
fur is soft and smooth, and generally of a glossy black; but there are vari¬ 
eties of other colors, as the cinnamon bear, the yellow bear, etc. The 
American black bear usually exhibits a timid disposition, seldom attacks 
man, feeds chiefly on berries, when they can be obtained, occasionally visits 
gardens for the sake of cabbages and other vegetables, and strongly prefers 
vegetable to animal food, but has recourse to the latter when pressed by 
hunger, and in such circumstances occasionally approaches human habita¬ 
tions and captures pigs, which it endeavors to carry off. In such cases the 
bear walks on its hind legs, the pig being firmly squeezed between its fore¬ 
paws and breast, making a noise which frequently leads to a rescue. This 
and other species of bear, when assailed, not unfrequently hug their adver¬ 
saries in the manner here described, when their strength renders them very 
dangerous. The skin of the American black bear is used for caps, rugs, etc., 
and great numbers are annually killed upon this account, chiefly by the 
Indians in the employment of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The grizzly 
bear (U.ferox) of North America, found chiefly in the Rocky Mountains and 
the plains to the eastward of them, from Mexico to lat. 61° n., is much larger 
than the species already noticed, and much more fierce and carnivorous. 
It sometimes measures more than nine feet from nose to tail, and the claws 
of the fore-feet more than six inches in length. It has a lengthened and 
narrowed muzzle, a very short tail, and long grizzled hair. No animal of 


89 


NATURAL HISTORY. 

the New World is more formidable. It is capable of overpowering the bison, 
and dragging away the huge carcass. It feeds, however, on fruits and 
roots. The Arctic or polar bear, also called the white bear ( TT. mari- 
timus ), resembles this species in size and fierceness, but is very distinctly 
characterized by its flat head and comparatively long neck. It has a smooth 
white fur. It is the only known species of bear which is strictly marine in 
its habits, never being found far from the sea. It inhabits the most north¬ 
erly shores of Asia and America, Spitzbergen, etc., where it pursues seals, 
both in the water and upon the ice, and preys upon fishes, birds, etc. 
Among the articles of its food are eggs and berries in their season, and in 
confinement it will subsist long on bread and other vegetable food. Like 



THE SYRIAN BEAR. 


other species of the genus, it displays great affection for its young, and will 
brave all dangers in their defence. Of other species of bear, the Syrian ( U. 
Syriacus) may be mentioned, as perhaps the species particularly intended 
by the name bear in the Old Testament. It is generally of a dingy-white or 
brown color, and has a stiff mane of erect hairs between the shoulders. 
Flocks are not safe from it, yet it more frequently commits ravages on crops 
of pulse. In its habits generally it much resembles the common bear; as do 
also the Tibet bear ( U. Tibetanus), and the spectacled bear ( U. ornaius), so 
called from semicircular yellow marks above its eyes, a native of the Andes 
of Chili. The long-lipped or sloth bear ( IT. labiatus), of the East Indies, is 
the kind commonly led about by Indian jugglers. Its long hair, short limbs, 
high back, peculiarly uncouth appearance, and gentleness of disposition, 
recommend it for this purpose. In a wild state, it is said to feed chiefly on 
fruits, honey and ants. It possesses in a remarkable degree the power, com¬ 
mon in some measures to all the bears, of protruding the lips in order to lay 
hold of food. Some of the bear species spend the winter in a torpid state, 
selecting a cavern or the hollow of a tree for hybernation. 





90 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


The Bison.—The American bison (Bos Amerieanusoi some naturalists, 
B. Bison of others) is interesting as the only species of the ox family indig¬ 
enous to America, except the musk ox of the subarctic regions. It is com¬ 
monly called Buffalo by the Anglo-Americans, although it is very different 
from the buffaloes of the Old World. It is found in vast numbers in the 
great prairies between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains; it occurs as 
far north as the vicinity of Great Marten Lake, in lat. 63° or 64°; extensive 
level and marshy tracts there affording it suitable food, although it is no¬ 
where else to be met with in so high a latitude. Its southern limit appears 
to be in New Mexico. About 300,000 Indians are supposed to subsist almost 
entirely on the flesh of the bison. The spear and the bow and arrow are still 
much employed by them in hunting it, although many of them also use fire¬ 
arms. They frequently pursue it on horseback; but the hunter, whether on 
horseback or on foot, has often much difficulty in getting within shot, upon 
account of its keenness of scent, and the speed with which it runs. The chase 


of the bison is also 
very dangerous, as it 
is apt to turn upon an 
adversary, and even 
a fleet horse cannot al¬ 
ways escape it. Great 
numbers, however, 
are sometimes killed 
when the hunters can 
succeed in throwing 
the herds that are 
scattered over the 
plains into confusion, 
so that they run wild¬ 
ly, without heeding 
whither. Another ex¬ 
pedient of the Indians 
is to set fire to the 
grass of the prairies 
around them, when 



THE BISON. 


they retire in great consternation to the center, and are easily killed. A sort 
of pound or enclosure is sometimes made, with a long avenue leading to it, 
and an embankment of snow, such that when the animals have descended 
over it they cannot return, and by this means great numbers are often cap¬ 
tured and killed. Sometimes, also, the Indians contrive to throw them into 
consternation, and to make them run towards a precipice, over which many 
of the foremost are driven by the crowds which throng up behind. 

The Tiger.— This animal is one of the largest of the Felidce, equal per¬ 
haps to the lion in size and strength, and superior in activity. It has no 
trace of mane. It is more slender than the lion, its whole form more cat¬ 
like, its head smaller and rounder. All its motions are performed with the 
utmost grace and apparent ease. It does not climb trees, but winds its way 
through brushwood or jungle with great dexterity, runs very swiftly, and 
can leap an immense distance. It takes its prey either by running, or, more 
frequently, by lying in ambush and leaping upon it. Its strength is such 
that it is capable of carrying off an ox or buffalo. It is sometimes fifteen feet 
in entire length to the tip of the tail; an instance is on record of eighteen 




NATURAL BIS TORY. 


91 


feet; the height is from three to four feet. The tigers of some regions differ 
considerably in size from those of others; thus the tiger of Bengal is much 
larger than that of Bokhara. The hair is thick, fine, and shining. The color 
is a bright tawny yellow, beautifully marked with dark transverse bands, 
passing into pure white on the under parts; the dark bands are continued 
as rings on the tail. The tail is long, slightly tapering, clothed with hair 
similar to that of the body. Individuals sometimes occur, of a pale whitish 
color, obscurely striped, the stripes only visible in particular lights. The 
tiger is found only in Asia. It abounds in Hindustan, in the Eastern Penin¬ 
sula, in Java, Sumatra, and other tropical islands. It is found also in China 
and Japan, and in Persia. Its range, however, does not extend much to the 
west of a line drawn from the mouth of the Indus to the Caspian Sea. It is 
found as far north as the south of Siberia, and even on the banks of the Obi. 



THE TIGEB. 


It inhabits woods, and cannot exist without free access to water. The is¬ 
lands of the delta of the Ganges have long been celebrated as a haunt of 
tigers. The animal generally lies concealed in a thicket during the day, and 
seeks its prey by night. 

Th.e Jaguar.— The jaguar is one of the largest of the cat tribe, and by 
far the most powerful and dangerous of the American beasts of prey. It is 
nearly equal to the tiger in size. The color varies considerably, but is usu¬ 
ally a rich yellow, with large black spots and rings, small black spots gen¬ 
erally appearing withm the rings. A black or very dark-brown variety oc¬ 
curs, but the characteristic markings may be seen in certain lights, deeper 
in color than the rest of the fur. The jaguar is strong enough to drag away 
a horse, and swift enough to capture horses on the open pampas. It is 
chiefly, however, an inhabitant of forests. It climbs trees, however smooth 
the stem, and moves about with great agility among the branches, making 
even monkeys its prey. The skins of jaguars are exported from South 
America in great numbers. 



92 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


The Leopard. -The leopard or panther is characterized by a peculiar 
gracefulness, slenderness and flexibility of form, with a very long tail, and 
spotted fur, the spots being arranged in numerous rows along the sides, and 
each spot composed of five or six small spots arranged in a circle or rosette. 
The general color is yellowish; the lower parts lighter; the spots darker 
than the general color of the fur. The leopard is extremely agile, and pos¬ 
sesses the power of leaping, and also that of climbing trees, in great perfec¬ 
tion. It haunts wooded places, and is seldom to be found in open regions 
of long grass, hke the tiger. When pursued, it takes refuge, if possible, in 
a tree, and if hard pressed, springs down on its assailants. It is cunning, 
and adopts devices similar to those of the fox for carrying on its depreda- 



THE LEOPABD. 


tions, and concealing its place of retreat. Deer and antelopes are its 
habitual prey; but it is equally ready to feed on pigs, poultry, or whatever 
may be found in the vicinity of a farm or village. The size and strength 
of the leopard render it as dangerous to man as any of the Felidee; but it 
generally seems to dread and flee from man, unless assailed. It is very 
capable of domestication. 

The Wolf.-The common wolf (Cants lupus) inhabits Europe and the 
northern parts of Asia and America, It is of a yellowish or tawny-gray 
color, with strong, coarse hair, which is longest on the ears, neck, shoulders 
and haunches, but particularly on the throat; the muzzle is black the 




NATURAL HISTORY. 


03 


upper lip and chin white. The ears are erect and pointed, the muz¬ 
zle sharp; the legs rather longer than those of the Shepherd’s dog; 
the tail bushy, but not curling; the eyes oblique, giving a peculiar vicious 
expression to the countenance. The wolf is swift of foot, and hunts deer 
and other animals, packs of wolves associating for this purpose; it also 
often commits great ravages among sheep, and attacks calves, but seldom 
full-grown oxen. It seldom attacks man, unless hard pressed by hunger, 
when it becomes very dangerous. The hungry wolves which sometimes 
descend, in severe winters, from the forests of the Alps, Pyrenees, and 
other mountains, are much dreaded by the inhabitants of neighboring 
regions; and terrible stories are told of travelers chased by packs of wolves 
in the forest-covered plains of the east of Europe and in Spain. In general 
the wolf is cowardly and stealthy, approaching sheepfolds and farm-build¬ 
ings by night, in search of prey, and readily scared by any demonstration 
of watchfulness, fleeing 
from dogs, and not readi¬ 
ly exposing itself within 
range of shot. It defends 
itself, however, with 
great vigor, when com¬ 
pelled to do so. It is not 
easily trapped, being ex¬ 
tremely cautious, and ap¬ 
pearing to understand 
the nature and purpose of 
a trap almost as well as 
those by whom it is set. 

Wolves have often been 
known even to approach 
a trap so skilfully as to 
devour the bait without the wolf. 

harm to themselves, get¬ 
ting at it from below. The American wolves consist of several distinct 
species, among which are the gray wolf, dusky wolf, black wolf, white wolf, 
prairie wolf and coyote. 

The Giraffe.— The giraffe or camelopard (Camelopardalis giraffa), the 
tallest of quadrupeds, is ranked by some naturalists among deer (Cervidce), 
but more properly regarded as constituting a distinct family of ruminants, 
which contains, however, only one species. It is a native of Africa, from 
Nubia to the Cape of Good Hope, extensively diffused, but apparently no¬ 
where abundant. It occurs generally in some herds of from five to forty. It 
feeds on the leaves and small branches of trees. Its general aspect is 
remarkable from the height of the foreparts and great elongation of the 
neck, the head being sometimes eighteen feet from the ground. The num¬ 
ber of vertebrae in the neck, however, is not greater than in other quad¬ 
rupeds, and it has no extraordinary flexibility, although its form and move¬ 
ments are very graceful. The body is short, and the back slopes from the 
shoulder to the tail; but the greater height of the foreparts is not owing, as 
has been often alleged, to the greater length of the forelegs, which are not 
really longer than the hind legs, but to processes of the vertebrae, which 
form a basis for the muscular support of the neck and head. The articula¬ 
tion of the skull to the neck is such that the head can be easily thrown back 




94 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Tintil it is in the same line with the neck, thus giving the animal additional 
power of reaching its appropriate food. The skull has empty cavities, which 
give lightness to the head, along with sufficient extent of surface for the 
insertion of the ligament which supports it. The legs are long and slender; 
the feet have cloven hoofs, but are destitute of the small lateral toes or 
spurious hoofs, which occur in the other cloven-footed ruminants. The 
head is long; the upper lip entire, projecting far beyond the nostrils, and 
endowed with considerable muscular power. The tongue is remarkably 
capable of elongation, and is an organ of touch and of prehension, like the 
trunk of an elephant; it can be thrust far out of the mouth, and employed to 
grasp and take up even very small objects; it is said that its tip can be so 
tapered as to enter the ring of a very small key. The usefulness of such an 

organ for drawing 
in leaves and 
branchlets to the 
mouth is obvious. 
The giraffe adroitly 
picks off the leaves 
of acacias and other 
thorny plants, with- 
o u t taking the 
thorns into its 
mouth. The denti¬ 
tion of the giraffe 
agrees with that of 
antelopes, sheep, 
goats and oxen; the 
upper jaw of the 
male is destitute of 
the canine teeth, 
which are present 
in the male of most 
kinds of deer. The 
head is furnished 
with two remarka- 
ble protuberances 
between the ears, 
generally described 
as horns, but very 
different from the 
horns of other ani¬ 
mals, and each consisting of a bone united to the skull by an obvious 
suture, permanent, covered with skin and hair, and terminated by long 
hard bristles. There is also a projection on the forehead. The ears are 
moderately long; the tail is long, and terminates in a tuft of long hair that 
nearly reaches the ground. There is a callosity on the breast. The neck 
has a very short mane. The hair is short and smooth; the color is a red¬ 
dish white, marked by numerous dark rusty spots. The eye of the giraffe 
is very large and lustrous, and so placed that the animal can look all 
around without turning its head, so that in a wild state it is not easily 
approached. Its nostrils have a muscle by which they can be closed, a pro¬ 
vision for excluding particles of sand. It is an inoffensive animal and gen¬ 
erally seeks safety, if possible, in flight, although it is capable of making a 




















NATURAL HISTORY. 


95 


stout resistance, and is said to beat off the lion. It fights by kicking with 
its hind legs, discharging a storm of kicks with extraordinary rapidity. It 
is not easily overtaken even by a fleet horse, and has greatly the advantage 
of a horse on uneven and broken ground. Its pace is described as an 
amble, the legs of the same side moving at the same time. 

The Zebu.—The zebu, Indian ox, or Brahmin ox, is closely allied to 
the common ox, of which naturalists generally regard it as a mere variety, 
although some think it a distinct species ( Bos Indicus). The most conspicu¬ 
ous distinctive character is a large fatty lump on the back, above the 
shoulders. The legs are rather more slender and delicate than in the 
European ox. The hump attains a very great size in animals plentifully 
supplied with food, and not compelled to work; in those which are ill-fed or 
hard-worked, it is comparatively small. It is alleged that intermixture 
takes place freely with the common ox, and that there is no difference of 



THE ZEBU. 


anatomical structure, but these statements require verification. Mr. Vasey 
found the number of ca»dal vertebras in the zebu to be only eighteen, whilst 
in the common ox it is tweirty-one. The zebu is diffused over India, China, 
the Asiatic Islands, Madagascar, and the east coast of Africa. There are 
many breeds, differing very much in size; the largest being larger than any 
oxen of Europe, whilst the smallest are not much larger than a large mastiff. 
The hump of the largest breeds is said to be sometimes fifty pounds in 
weight. English residents in India esteem the hump as delicious for the 
table. There are hornless breeds; but most of the breeds have short 
horns. There is a breed with two fatty humps, one placed immediately 
behind the other, which is common in the vicinity of Surat. The 
voice of the zebu resembles the grunting of the yak, almost as nearly 
as the lowing of the ox. The zebu is used in India both as a beast 
of draught and of burden. It is yoked in the plough, and is occasionally 
used for riding. It can travel from twenty to thirty miles a day, and is 
very gentle and docile. 


96 



CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The Ant-Eater.— The ant-eater is a genus of South American quad¬ 
rupeds. They are perfectly toothless, their food being insects, and particu¬ 
larly ants, which they procure in great numbers by thrusting among them 
a very long cylindrical tongue, covered with a viscid saliva, and then 
retracting it into the mouth. The head is remarkably elongated, with a 
slender muzzle, and a small mouth. The tongue is doubled up in the 
mouth when not in use for catching prey. The ears and eyes are very small. 
The toes differ in number in the different species, but are united as far as 
the base of the claws, which are very large and strong, adapted to tearing 
up the habitations of ants. The great ant-eater (M.jubata), a native of the 
warm parts of South America, and called in Demerara the ant bear, is about 
four and one-half feet in length from the snout to the origin of the tail, 
which is more than two feet long, and is covered with very long hair. The 


body is also covered with long hair, particularly along the neck and back. 
There are four claws on each fore foot, and five on the hind ones. The ant- 
eater spends much of its time in sleep, the long snout concealed in the lur 
of the breast, the hind and fore claws locked together, and the bushy tail 
thrown over all, as if for a shade from the sun. It is very unsocial in its 
habits, and is regarded as a very stupid animal. It has great strength in its 
fore-legs and claws, and is said to hug like the bear, so as to crush an enemy 
to death. The female produces one young one at a birth, and carries it 
about for some time on her back. 


The Porcupine.—The porcupine is a native of the south of Europe, 
of many parts of Asia, and of most parts of Africa. It is one of the largest of 
rodents, being from two to three feet in length, besides the tail, which is about 
six inches long. The hinder part of the head and the neck are furnished 


THE ANT-EATER 













2? A TUBAL HISTORY . 97 

with a crest of long bristles, capable of being elevated or depressed at 
pleasure. The muzzle and limbs are covered with very short hair; the 
back and sides with spines, which are longest on the middle of the back, 
where they are almost of the thickness of a goose quill, and more than a foot 
long. The spines are supported by a slender pedicle, and they terminate 
in a sharp point; they are longitudinally striated, and are ringed with black 
and white, which gives a general gray color to the animal. Their ordinary 
position is flat, with the points directed backwards; but when the animal 
is excited, they are erected, and it rolls itself up like the hedgehog, with 
spines pointing in every direction. The tail spines or quills are of very 
singular structure, being open thin-sided tubes, about two inches long, 
supported upon slender flexible pedicles; and they make a sound by 



THE PORCUPINE. 


rattling together when the tail is shaken. The porcupine is said to rattle 
also the spines of its body when irritated, but this is doubtful. The state¬ 
ment has been often made, that it throws off its spines or quills by a 
voluntary act, launching them at its adversaries; but it has no such power, 
although it is possible that quills ready to come off may be detached in 
moments of excitement, and fly to a small distance with sufficient force 
to be annoying to a pursuer. The porcupine’s armor is strictly defensive, 
and it seeks to turn its back, and thus the points of its spines, to an 
enemy. It is a solitary and nocturnal animal. It burrows in the ground, 
and in winter it becomes torpid. It feeds on roots, bark, fruits, and 
other vegetable substances, sometimes committing great depredations in 
gardens. The spines or quills of the porcupine are used for various pur¬ 
poses, and have a certain commercial value. It is chiefly sought on account 













08 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

of them; although its flesh is eaten, and was brought to the market of 
ancient Rome. 

The Hedgehog.—Among the smaller mammalia the hedgehog is by 
no means one of the least interesting, whether we consider its structure 
or its habits. In almost every part of the country this little animal is 
common, frequenting woods, copses, orchards and dense hedge-rows, 
where it lies concealed from morning till dusk, evening being its “ open¬ 
ing day,” when it rouses up from slumber and begins its prowl for food, 
when it is all alertness, and alive to every sound. When surprised it 
makes no attempt to escape by flight, but rolling itself up into the form 
of a ball, trusts to its panoply of thorns, and awaits the result. While 



THE HEDGEHOG. 


in this position, the head, legs, and tail are completely hidden and 
protected, and the animal may be rolled about, or even roughly treated, 
without being made to unfold itself; nay, the more severely it is attacked, 
the more pertinaciously does it maintain its defensive lorm, and the 
more firmly does it contract. Thus does it offer a passive resistance, and 
often a successful one, to its enemies, of which the fox is among the 
most resolute, and to which, in spite of all its efforts, it often falls a 
prey. When taken young the hedgehog may be completely tamed 
and made familiar, allowing itself to be handled, and associating with 
the dog or cat upon terms of perfect concord. It feeds indifferently 
upon bread and milk, meat, etc., and keeps up a regular nocturnal chase 
after insects, 









NATURAL HISTORY. 


99 


The Elk.—The elk, moose, or moose deer, the largest existing species 
of the deer family, is a native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia and 
America. When full grown, it is about six feet in height at the shoulders, 
and sometimes weighs 1,200 pounds. The body is round, compact and 
short; the neck is short and thick, unlike that of deer in general, but thus 
adapted for sustaining the great weight of the head and horns. The head is 
very large, narrow, about two feet long. The horns in males of the second 
year are unbranched, not flattened, and about a foot long, as the animal 
becomes older, they begin to display a blade, with more numerous snags, 
and in mature elks the blade becomes very broad, the snags sometimes 
fourteen on each horn; a single antler has been known to weigh about sixty 
pounds. The horns have no basal snag projecting forwards. The ears are 
long, and have been compared to those of the ass. The eyes are small. The 
limbs are long, and very graceful. The tail is only about four inches long. 
The body is covered with coarse angular hair, which breaks when it is bent. 
On the neck and withers 
there is a heavy mane; 
and the throat is covered 
with long hair. A large 
goitre-like swelling un¬ 
der the throat of the 
younger elks has a very 
curious appearance. The 
hoofs of the elk, like 
those of the reindeer and 
of the buffalo, are so con¬ 
structed as to part wide¬ 
ly, and to afford a better 
footing on soft marshy 
ground or on snow; they 
make a clattering when 
it runs. In running it car¬ 
ries its muzzle forward, 
with the horns thrown 
back upon the neck 
so that they may not be 
caught by branches. Its 
shoulders being higher 
than the croup, its common gait is a shambling trot; but it can also gallop 
with great rapidity. Elks delight in marshy districts and in forests. When 
compelled to eat grass, they must get down on their knees to reach it; 
their proper food consists of the branches and foliage of shrubs and trees. 
They are very timid and inoffensive, except during the rutting season. A 
single stroke of an elk’s fore-foot is sufficient to kill the strongest dog. It is 
also an extremely wary animal, and is with the greatest difficulty ap¬ 
proached by the hunter. Its sense of smell is very acute, and the slightest 
sound excites its alarm. It is, however, much sought after in North 
America. In Sweden its destruction is prohibited; and in Norway is placed 
under legal restriction. The flesh of the elk is esteemed a good kind of 
venison; the fat is remarkably soft; the nose and the tongue are reckoned 
delicacies. The elk is easily domesticated, arid was at one time employed 
in Sweden for conveying couriers, being capable of traveling more than twQ 
hundred miles in a day when attached to a sledge, 









100 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The Stag.—The stag or red deer is a species of deer with round antlers, 
which have a snag at the base in front. The female has no horns, and is 
called a Hind. The young male, during the first year, acquires mere knobs 
in place of horns. In the second year, they are longer and pointed, when 
the animal is called a Brocket. The branching of the horns increases every 
year till the sixth, when the name Hart begins to be applied. After this, 
the age is no longer indicated by an increased number of branches, but the 
antlers become larger and thicker, their furrows deeper, and the burr at the 
base more projecting. The oldest stags have seldom more than ten or 
twelve branches, although an instance has occurred of thirty-three on each 
antler. A fine stag is four feet or more in height at the shoulder. The color 
is reddish brown in summer, the rump pale; in winter, it is brownish gray. 
The female is smaller than the male. The young is at first spotted with 



THE STAG. 


white. The stag feeds on the buds and young shoots of trees, and on grass; 
or, in the severe weather of winter, on bark and mosses. Its speed is very 
great. It has also great powers of swimming, and has been known to swim 
ten miles. When hard pressed by hunters, it turns to bay, and is not ap¬ 
proached without danger. At the pairing season, which is in August, even 
tame stags become so excited that it is not safe to approach them. Their 
domestication is never very complete. In fighting, it uses not only its horns, 
but its fore-feet, with which it gives severe blows to an adversary. 

The Chamois.—The chamois is a species of antelope inhabiting the 
Alps and other high mountains of Central and Southern Europe, and is 
about the size of a large goat. Its color is brown, deeper in winter than in 
summer. The usual summer resort of the chamois is in the higher regions 
of the mountains which it inhabits, not far from the snow-line, and it is often 
to be seen lying on the snow. In winter, it descends to the higher forests. 
The aromatic and bitter plants of the mountain pastures are its favorite 



NATURAL SI STORY, 101 

food. It is like the ruminants generally—very fond of salt; “ and many 
stones are met with in the Alps, hollowed out by the continual licking of the 
chamois, on account of the saltpetre with which they abound.” It is gre¬ 
garious; flocks of one hundred are sometimes seen; but in the Swiss Alps, 
where the numbers have been much reduced by hunting, the flocks are gen¬ 
erally very small, and often consist only of a few individuals. Old males 
often live solitarily. The chamois produces one or two young at a birth, in the 
month of March or April. It is an animal of extraordinary agility, and 
flocks may often be observed sporting in a remarkable manner among the 
rocky heights. It can leap over ravines of sixteen to eighteen feet wide; a 
wall of fourteen feet high presents no obstacle to it; and it passes readily 


THE CHAMOIS. 

up or down precipices which almost no other quadruped could attempt. It 
is said to descend obliquely almost perpendicular precipices of more than 
twenty feet, striking its feet once or twice against the rock, as if to stay and 
guide its descent, and alighting securely, often on a very narrow ridge of 
rock, with its hind feet first, and bringing the fore-feet almost into contact 
with them. When a flock of chamois is feeding one is always on the watch, 
and by a sort of whistle announces apprehended danger. From its skin js 
made the shamoy leather so much prized for its warmth and softness. 

The Caribou, or American Reindeer.—The eyes of the reindeer 
are very quick, and his hearing also acute; but his sense of smell is more 
wonderfully developed than either of the other senses. The caribou, or 
American variety of the reindeer, is a large animal, measuring three feet six 
inches in height at the shoulders when adult, Although it is specifically 





102 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


identical with the European reindeer, it has never yet been brought under 
the sway of man, and trained to carry his goods or draw his sledges. 
Should it be employed for these purposes, it would be a most valuable ser¬ 
vant, for it is a very strong as well as an enduring animal, leading its pur¬ 
suers a chase of four or five days, and often eventually making good its es¬ 
cape. Whenever practicable, the caribou makes for the frozen surface of 
the lakes, and is then sure to escape, although the manner of doing so is 
ludicrously clumsy. Rushing recklessly forward, the caribou will be sud¬ 
denly startled by some object in its front, and on attempting to check its on¬ 
ward career, falls on the ice in a sitting posture, and in that attitude slides 



THE CARIBOU, OB AMERICAN REINDEER. 

for a considerable distance before it can stop itself. Recovering its feet, it 
then makes off in another direction, and gets over the ground with such ce¬ 
lerity, that the hunters always yield the chase whenever the animal gets 
upon the ice. 

The Beaver.—This interesting quadruped is very widely distributed 
in the northern regions of the world, reaching in America almost as far 
south as the Gulf of Mexico. It once existed in the British islands, where, 
however, it has long been extinct; and it has become rare in Europe, iD 
many parts of which it was once common. It has become rare also in the 
United States, disappearing before man; but is nowhere so abundant as in 














NATURAL HISTORY. 103 

that wide region of lakes and rivers which lies to the north and west of the 
settled parts of North America. Considerable numbers of beavers are found 
on the banks of the Obi and other rivers of Siberia, and in Kamtc.hatka. 

The beaver is usually at least two feet in length, from the nose to the root 
of the tail; the tail is of an oval form, about ten inches in length, fully three 
inches in greatest breadth, and scarcely an inch in thickness. These dimen¬ 
sions are sometimes exceeded. The general form of the animal is thick and 
clumsy, thickest at the hips, and then narrowing abruptly, so that it seems 
to taper into the tail. The head is thick and broad, the nose obtuse, the 
eyes small, the ears short and rounded. The fur consists of two kinds of 


• BEAVERS. 

hair; the longer hair comparatively coarse, smooth, and glossy; the under 
coat dense, soft, and silky. The color is generally chestnut, rarely black, 
spotted, or nearly white. The beaver is very aquatic in its mode of life, and 
it seldom wanders far from some lake or river. In consequence of its 
habits, it is also limited to wooded districts, and the northern range of the 
species is everywhere terminated by the limits of the wood upon the river 
hanks. 

The food of the beaver consists of the hark of trees and shrubs (birch, 
poplar, willow, etc.), and of the roots of water lilies and other aquatic plants. 
In summer, it eats also berries, leaves, and various kinds of herbage. There 
is reason to think that it never, as has been supposed, kills or eats fish. Like 
some other rodents, it lays up stores of provisions for winter; but these, in 
the case of the beaver, consist chiefly of bark, or of branches, and even 











104 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


trunks of trees. Its extraordinary powers of gnawing are exerted to cut 
down trees of several inches in diameter, both for food and for the construc¬ 
tion of those houses and dams which have rendered it so much an object of 
admiration to mankind. A tree of eighteen inches in diameter has been 
found thus cut down by beavers, although smaller ones are usually pre¬ 
ferred; and when a tree of this size is cut, the branches only, and not the 
trunk, are employed in the architectural operations of tbe animals. These 
operations are very wonderful, although the statement, at one time com¬ 
monly made, that beavers drive stakes into the ground, has no foundation 
in faet; and some of the other particulars which passed current along with 
it, were equally fabulous. The houses or lodges of beavers are grouped to¬ 
gether near the edge of the water, the mud being scraped away from the 
front, so that there may be a sufficient depth of water there to allow free 
egress, even during the most severe frost. The winter stores of the animals, 
consisting of piles or heaps of wood, are also always under water, at such a 
depth that they cannot be locked up in ice. When the depth of water is not 
sufficient, the beavers construct a dam across the stream, by the side of 
which the lodge is placed; the dam is sometimes as much as three hundred 
yards in length, convex towards the current, and most convex in the strong¬ 
est currents, sometimes extending on both sides beyond the natural channel 
of the stream. The materials of which it is composed are sticks, roots, and 
branches, with stones, moss, grasses, and mud, strangely commingled, but 
in such a manner that the structure becomes absolutely water tight. 
Branches, of which the bark has been used for food, or taken off for winter 
provender, are very generally employed for building purposes. In their 
building, beavers interlace small branches with each other and with the 
larger; and a beaver kept in confinement has been known to manifest this 
instinct, by interlacing branches with the bars of its cage, while it also filled 
the interstices with carrots, and other vegetables, given it for food, nicely 
bitten to the proper size, and packed in snow, to protect itself from the cold. 
Beaver dams are built with the sides inclining towards one another, so that 
although ten or twelve feet wide at bottom, they have a narrow top. The 
dams and houses are annually repaired, before winter comes on, the work 
being performed by night. “ In places,” says Heame, “ which have been 
long frequented by beavers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing, 
become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force, both of water and 
ice; and as the willow, poplar, and birch generally take root and shoot up, 
they by degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have seen 
in some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the branches.” 
A broad ditch is often dug all around the lodge, so deep that it cannot freeze 
to the bottom, and into it the beavers make the holes by which they go out 
and bring their food. The larger lodges are, in the interior, about seven 
feet in diameter, and between two and three feet high. The top is formed 
of branches of trees, matted with mud, grass, moss, etc. The walls are very 
thick, and the whole structure not only secures much warmth, but is a suffi¬ 
cient protection from wolves, wolverines, and other beasts of prey. Differ¬ 
ent apartments have often one common roof, but they have usually no in¬ 
ternal communication. The sleeping-places of the animals are around the 
wall of their lodge, the center being left free; they are formed merely of a 
little grass or tender bark of trees. A single house seldom contains more 
than ten or twelve beavers, but many such families are often congregated in 
one place. Beavers, both in a wild state and in confinement, are scrupu¬ 
lously cleanly in their habits. 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


105 


Beavers often sit on the hind-feet and tail, and eat in this posture, hold¬ 
ing up the food in their fore-paws. They also walk on the hind-feet, with 
support of the tail, when they carry materials to their buildings, except 
branches, which are dragged. They have considerable power in the tail, 
and not unfrequently flap it, which has given rise to an opinion, perhaps 
not altogether erroneous, that they use their tails for plastering their build¬ 
ings, or beating and adjusting the mud which is employed in them. Beavers 
do not usually eat in their lodges, but in holes or burrows in the bank of 
the river, the entrance to which is from beneath the water, and which thence 
proceed obliquely upwards, often a distance of many feet. To these holes 
the beavers also flee when their lodge is broken up; and it is therefore a 



THE FERKET. 


common practice of the beaver hunters to break up the lodges, that they 
may take the animals in their holes or vaults. Beavers are also taken by 
nets and traps. 

It is chiefly in winter that beavers congregate together. During summer 
they wander about a little. The young are generally produced in April or 
May, from two to seven at a birth. Their eyes are open when they are bom. 
Single beavers are frequently met with, which live apart from all others of 
their species. All of these are males, w'hich, it is supposed, have been con¬ 
quered and driven away by others of their sex. The beaver is very easily 
tamed; but no wooden cage will keep one confined. Except in the extra¬ 
ordinary building instincts already noticed, the animal exhibits no remark¬ 
able sagacity. The use of the beaver’s fur for making hats is well known. 

The Perret. —This animal was imported into Europe from Africa, and 
was well known to the Romans, being anciently employed, as it still is, in 
catching rabbits, for which purpose it is often sent into their burrows muz¬ 
zled, or “ coped,” by means of a piece of string, to drive them out into nets, 



106 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 

or, with a string attached to it, it is allowed to seize a rabbit in the burrows, 
and is then drawn out, holding it fast. The usual plan, however, is to let 
the ferret have free range of rabbit-holes unmuzzled, the rabbits being shot 
as they bolt. Attention to warmth and cleanliness is essential to the health 
of ferrets. They are capable only of partial domestication, acquiring a kind 
of familiarity with man, and submitting with perfect quietness to his hand¬ 
ling, but apparently never forming any very decided attachment; and they 
never cease to be dangerous if not carefully watched, especially where in¬ 
fants are within their reach. If allowed any measure of freedom, they are 
ready to attack poultry, and kill far more than they can devour, merely 
sucking the blood. They generally breed twice a year, each brood consist¬ 
ing of six or nine. The female sometimes devours the young ones, in which 
case another brood is speedily produced. 

Moles.—The mole is a miner, living an almost exclusively subterranean 
life, even pursuing its prey through the soil, and working out long galleries 
in the chase. It would appear that its labors are exerted in the accom¬ 
plishment of very different objects. Each mole may be said to have its own 
district or manor, its hunting-ground, and its lodges; and this ground is 

traversed by 
high-road 
tunnels, in 
which it trav¬ 
els from one 
part to an¬ 
other, all 
branching off 
from a cen¬ 
tral fortress 
—its ordinary 
residence, 
which is not, 
however, only 
distinct, but 

often remote from the chamber in which the nest is made and the 
young reared. We will begin by describing the fortress, or ordinary 
domicile. This fortress is constructed under a hillock of considerable 
size (not one of those which we ordinarily see, and which, thrown 
up every night, indicate its hunting excursions). This hillock is raised 
in some secure place, where a high bank, the roots of a tree or the 
base of a wall, afford protection. The earth forming this mound is 
well compacted together, and made solid by the labors of the architect; and 
within this firm-set mound is a complex arrangement of galleries, and pas¬ 
sages of communication. First, a circular gallery occupies the upper por¬ 
tion of the mound, and this communicates, by means of five descending pas¬ 
sages, with another, and with a gallery at the base of the mound, and en- 
closing a larger area. These passages are nearly at equal distances. With¬ 
in the area of this lower gallery is a chamber, not immediately communica¬ 
ting with it, but with the upper gallery, by three abruptly descending tun¬ 
nels, so that to get into the basal gallery the mole has first to ascend to the 
top gallery, and from that descend into the lower gallery. This chamber is 
the dormitory of the mole. From the basal gallery opens a high-road tun¬ 
nel, which is carried out in a direct lino to the extent of the manor over 



THE MOL*. 


NATURAL HISTORY. 107 

which the individual presides, and from the bottom of the central chamber 
a passage descends, and then sweeping upward joins this main road at a 
little distance from the hillock, so that the mole can enter the high-road; 
eight or nine other tunnels are carried out from the basal gallery; they are 
of greater or less extent, and wind round more or less irregularly, opening 
into the high-road at various distances from the hillock; these irregular tun¬ 
nels the mole is continually extending in quest of prey, throwing up the soil 
above the turf, through holes which it makes for the purpose, and which 
from the ordinary mole hills which we often see crowded thickly together. 
The high or main road exceeds in diameter the body of the mole, and is 
solid and well trodden, with smooth sides; its depth varies, according to the 
quality of the soil, instinct directing the little excavator in his work. Ordi¬ 
narily it is five or six inches below the surface, but when carried under a 
streamlet or pathway it is often a foot and a half beneath. It sometimes 
happens that the mole will drive two or more additional high-roads, which 
will not admit of two passing at the same time; one therefore must retreat, 
but when two males thus come into collision they frequently attack each 
other, the weaker falling a victim in the combat. The alleys opening from 
the sides of the high-road are generally inclined downward with a gradual 
slope, and then at the termination of these the mole excavates branch alleys, 
upheaving mole-hills as it works onward in pursuit of prey. This, however, 
is not invariably the case, but rather where prey is abundant in rich soils. 
"Where the soil is barren the mole is constantly driving fresh alleys; these 
in winter are carried deep down to where the worms have pierced their way 
beyond the line to which the frost penetrates; for, be it observed, the mole 
does not hybernate, but is as active during winter as in spring or summer, 
though the results of his operations are less manifest. In soft rich soils, 
w’here the worms are among the roots of the turf, the mole, as may be often 
noticed, drives very superficial runs in the pursuit of them; these runs are 
to be seen where a thin layer of richly manured soil overlays a stratum of 
gravel; in fact the depth of these alleys is always determined by the quality 
of the soil and consequent situation of the worms. With respect to the nest 
of the female, it is generally constructed at a distance from the fortress, 
where, at some convenient part, three or four passages intersect each other; 
this point of convergence is enlarged and rendered commodious, and fitted 
to receive a bed made of dry herbage, fibrous roots, etc. The chamber is 
generally beneath a large hillock, but not always; and the surrounding soil 
is usually such as to afford abundant food to the female with little trouble 
on her part. The mole breeds in the spring, mostly in April, and brings 
forth four or five young at a birth. These are supposed to remain under the 
mother’s care till about half grown, when they commence an independent 
existence. 

Baby Monkeys.—Monkeys are born in almost as helpless a condition 
as are human beings. For the first fortnight after birth they pass their time* 
in being nursed, sleeping, and looking about them. During the whole of 
this time the care and attention of the mother are most exemplary; the 
slightest sound or movement excites her immediate notice; and, with her 
baby in her arms, she skillfully evades any approaching danger by the most 
adroit manoeuvres. At the end of the first fortnight the little one begins to 
get about by itself, but always under the mother’s watchful care. She fre¬ 
quently attempts to teach it to do for itself, but never forgets her solicitude 
for its safety, and at the earliest intimation of danger seizes it in her arms 


108 CYCLOTJEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


and seeks a place of refuge. When about six weeks old the baby begins to 
need more substantial nutriment than milk, and is taught to provide for 
himself. Its powers are speedily developed, and in a few weeks its agility 
is most surprising. The mother’s fondness for her offspring continues; she 
devotes all her care to its comfort and education, and should it meet with 
an untimely end, her grief is so intense as frequently to cause her own 
death. “ The care which the females bestow upon their offspring,” says 
Duvancel, “ is so tender and even refined, that one would be almost tempted 
to attribute the sentiments to a rational rather than an instinctive process. 
It is a curious and interesting spectacle, which a little precaution has some¬ 
times enabled me to witness, to see these females carry their young to the 
river, wash their faces in spite of their childish outcries, and altogether be¬ 
stow upon their cleanliness a time and attention' that in many cases the 
children of our own species might well envy. The Malays indeed related 
a fact to me, which I doubted at first, but which I believe to be in a great 
measure confirmed by my own subsequent observation; it is, that the young 
siamciugs , while yet too weak to go alone, are always carried by individuals 
of their own sex; by their fathers if they are males, by their mothers if fe¬ 
males.” M. d’Osbonville states that the parents exercise their parental au¬ 
thority over their children in a sort of judicial and strictly impartial form. 
“ The young ones were seen to sport and gambol with one another in the 
presence of their mother, who sat ready to give judgment and punish mis¬ 
demeanors. When any one was found guilty of foul play or malicious con¬ 
duct toward another of the family, the parent interfered by seizing the young 
criminal by the tail, which she held fast with one of her paws till she boxed 
his ears with the other.” 

The Diamond Rattlesnake.—Of all the snake varieties of which we 
have yet any knowledge, the diamond rattlesnake, as it is called, seems to 
be most deadly. It grows to a length of six or seven feet, and is some¬ 
what thicker than a man’s wrist. It is armed with the whitest and sharpest 
of fangs, nearly an inch in length, with cisterns of liquid poison at their base. 
A terror to man and beast, he turns aside from no one, although he will not 
go out ot his way to attack any unless pressed -by hunger. A description of 
his movements by a traveler who has encountered him states that he moves 
quietly along, his gleaming eyes seeming to emit a greenish light, and to 
jhine with as much brilliancy as the jewels of a finished coquette. Nothing 
fleems to escape his observation, and on the slightest movement near him 
he swings into a fighting attitude, raising his upper jaw and erecting his 
fangs, which in a state of repose lie closely packed in the soft muscles of the 
mouth. This snake is not so active as the famous copperhead of North 
America, nor so quick to strike, but one blow is almost always fatal. His 
fangs ai’e so long that they penetrate deep into the muscles and veins of his 
victim, who has little time for more than a single good-by before closing his 
eyes forever. In one instance the fangs were found to be seven-eighths of 
an inch in length, and though not thicker than a common sewing needle, 
they were perforated with a hole through which the greenish-yellow liquid 
could be forced in considerable quantities, and each of the sacs contained 
about half a teaspoonful of the most terrible and deadly poison. 

The Crocodile.—This reptile may be described as lizard-lilie in form, 
with a great gape, indicative of their characteristic voracity, and with the 
tail flattened at the sides, so as to become a powerful organ of propulsion in 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


109 


water. The fore-feet have five toes, the hinder-feet four, the three inner 
ones only being armed with claws; the feet are more or less webbed. Each 
jaw has a single row of numerous large teeth, which are conical and directed 
backwards; planted in distinct sockets, and becoming hollowed at the base, 
to admit the crowns of the new and larger teeth which are to succeed them 
as the animal increases in size. Small ribs are attached to the vertebrae of 
the neck, which give it a peculiar stiffness, and make it difficult for the ani¬ 
mal to turn; and persons pursued by crocodiles may make their escape by 
rapid turning. The eggs of the crocodile are hard, and small in compari¬ 
son with the size ultimately attained by the animal itself. The females of 
some, if not of all the species, guard their eggs, and take care of their young; 



THE CROCODILE. 


although the eggs, buried in the sand or mud, are hatched by the heat of 
the sun alone. Crocodiles swallow stones, apparently to assist digestion. 
They prey on fishes and warm-blooded animals; most of them seem to pre¬ 
fer food in a state of incipient putrefaction, and they are even said to hide 
their prey, and to return to it when it has reached this state. Some of the 
larger kinds do not scruple to attack man. All crocodiles are large reptiles; 
they are found in fresh waters and estuaries in the warm parts of the world; 
none are found in Europe, nor, as far as is yet known, in Australia. The 
crocodile of the Nile is of a bronzed green color, speckled with brown, lighter 
beneath, and is sometimes thirty feet long. It often seizes human beings 
for its prey In “ Park’s Travels,” an instance is recorded ot a negro, one 
of his guides, who was thus seized in the Gambia, and escaped by thrusting 
his fingers into the crocodile’s eyes. The ancient Egyptians held it sacred, 
and being exempted from all danger on the part of man, it became more 
bold and troublesome. The individuals particularly selected as the 
objects of idolatrous worship were tamed, and took part in religious proces¬ 
sions, 








110 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


The Alligator.—Alligators differ from crocodiles in the shorter aDd 
flatter head, the existence of cavities or pits in the upper jaw, into which 
(and not into mere notches between the teeth, as in the crocodiles) the long 
fourth teeth of the under jaw are received, and the much less webbed feet. 
Their habits are less perfectly aquatic; they frequent swamps and marshes, 
and may be seen basking on the dry ground during the day, in the heat of 
the sun. They are most active during the night, and then make a loud bel¬ 
lowing. They have great strength in their tails, with which the larger ones 
can easily upset a light canoe. They feed chiefly on fish, but do not object 
to other animal food. The females lay their eggs, from twenty to sixty in 
number, in the mud, and leave them to be hatched by the sun, but keep 
watch over the spot, and show much affection for their young ones, many 



THE AI/LIGATOR. 


of which, however, fall a prey to the old males, and to vultures and fishes. 
There are several species, varying from two to twenty feet and upwards in 
length. Perhaps the most fierce and dangerous is that found in the southern 
parts of the United States, as far up the Mississippi as the Red River. In 
cold weather, these animals bury themselves in the mud, and become so 
torpid, that they may be cut to pieces without showing signs of sensibility; 
but a few hours of bright sunshine are enough to revive them. Like the 
other species, they are so protected by their mailed plates that they are not 
easily killed, except by a shot or blow over the eyes. A very strong kind of 
leather is prepared from the skin, which is used for making saddles and 
other articles. It is said that a considerable quantity of oil can be extracted 
from an alligator, which is transparent and burns well. Alligators are not 
known to exist in any quarter of the world except America, in which, how¬ 
ever, crocodiles are also found. The flesh of -alligators is eaten by Indians 
and negroes. It has a musky flavor. The origin of the name is uncertain, 
but it is supposed to be a corruption of the Portuguese lagarto f a lizard, 








NATURAL HISTORY . 


Ill 


Bats.—Sixteen or seventeen distinct species of bate are natives of the 
British Islands. Of these, however, several are extremely rare and re¬ 
stricted to certain localities; but some, as the pipis trelle , or common bat, 
and the long-eared bat are everywhere abundant. Of all the mammalia the 
bats alone emulate in their aerial endowments the feathered tenants of the 
sky; they are essentially flying insectivora. In the air they pass the active 
period of their existence, and revel in the exercise of their faculties. Their 
organs of flight, admirably adapted for their destined purpose, do not con¬ 
sist, as in the bird, of stiff feathers based upon the bones of the forearm, but 
of a membraneous expansion stretched over and between the limbs, and to 
which the bows of the limbs, especially those of the elongated Angers, serve 
the same purpose as the strips of whalebone in an umbrella. This apparatus 



THE LONG-EARED BAT. 


can be folded up, and the limbs employed in progression on the ground; on 
a level surfa.ee, however, the bat shuffles awkwardly but quickly along. In 
the hollows of decayed trees, in the crevices of mouldering masonry, or in 
the rough chinks and fissures, it can crawl and climb about -with tolerable 
rapidity, as also about the wire work of a cage. It is a smooth and level 
surface that most embarrasses the bat, but even then it can easily take wind. 
In the air the bat is all alertness—it is here that these singular creatures 
pursue their prey—uttering their short, sharp cry as they wheel in circling 
flights, or perform their abrupt and zig-zag evolutions. The bat is a twi¬ 
light and nocturnal rambler; it passes the day in its retreat suspended head 
downward, clinging to any roughness or projection by the claws of its hinder 
feet. In this position it hybernates in a state of lethargy, numbers congre¬ 
gating together. Church-steeples, hollow trees, old barns, caverns, and 
similar retreats, are its lurking places; and numbers are often found crowded 
together, and forming a compact mass. 












112 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 


The Colugo.— 1 The colugo is a curious bat-like animal, which may be 
found in Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. It has a membrane from the neck to 
the end of the tail, which, being attached to the ends of the four limbs, 
plays the part of wings, permitting the animal to sustain itself in the air for 
even a longer time than the flying squirrels. The colugos hide themselves 
during the day in the most lonely parts of the forests, and come forth at 
evening in search of food. They are then seen moving actively among the 
trees, either climbing or flying. Their flight is noiseless, and it is said that 
they can clear a space of some hundreds of yards. They feed on insects, 
fruits and small birds. In order to rest, these animals suspend themselves 
by their hind paws to the branches of trees, like bats. The natives of the 



THE COLUGO. 


countries they inhabit choose this time for capturing them. They are in 
need of their flesh for food. 

Frog’s.—The peeping frog is totally different from the “ creaking ” frog, 
and well repays one’s attention. It is commonly thought to be the young of 
the bull-frog; but this is not so; it seems to be a distinct variety of the frog 
family. He makes himself heard in the spring as soon as the ice is melted, 
and is most musical during the evening. You will find him sitting among 
the old brown grasses and leaves at the edge of the water; and as soon as 
he hears your footfall, down he flattens himself, and you would easily mis¬ 
take him for a brown leaf, but, trusting to your ears and not eyes, you soon 













































NATURAL HISTORY. 


113 


will see this brown leaf cautiously rise up, swell its little throat to half the 
size of its body, and give a “ peep ” shrill enough to leave no doubt as to 
what makes that sound. These frogs are, when sitting, an inch long, and 
vary in color from a light to a very dark brown. They are easily caught, 
and by putting them in a wide-mouthed bottle covered with thin muslin; 
and placing this under a hat, or in any place away from the light, they will 
continue their peeping for some time. 

The Paper Nautilus.— The shell of the paper nautilus is not cham¬ 
bered like that of the true nautilus, but has one spiral cavity, into which the 
animal can entirely withdraw itself. The animal has no muscular attach¬ 
ment to the shell, and some naturalists therefore suspected that it might be 



THE PAPER NAUTILUS. 


merely, like the hermit crab, the inhabitant of a shell originally belonging 
to some other animal; but this question has been set at rest by the observa¬ 
tions of Madame Power, proving the beautiful but fragile shell to be the pro¬ 
duction of the paper nautilus itself. It has, however, also been discovered 
that the shell is peculiar to the female, and does not answer the ordinary 
purposes of the shells of mollusca, but rather that of an “ incubating and 
protective nest.” The eggs, which are very nttmerous, ar-e attached to 
filamentary stalks, and by these the whole compacted mass is united to the 
involuted spire of the shell, where it is usually concealed by the body of the 
parent. 

Plying Pisli.—This is the name given to all those fishes which have the 
pectoral fins so very large that by means of them they are sustained in short 







114 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


seeming flights in the air. They swim in shoals; and wholo shoals—varying 
in number from a dozen to one hundred or more--often leave the water at 
once, darting in the same direction through the air, and alter descending 
into the water at a distance of two hundred yards or even more, from the 
place where they arose, quickly renewing their flight. These flights of flying 
fishes form one of the most interesting and pleasing spectacles which relieve 
the monotony of a voyage in the tropical seas. Sometimes, the coryphene 
(dolphin) may be seen in rapid pursuit, taking great leaps out of the water, 
and gaining upon his prey, which take shorter and shorter flights, vainly 
try to escape their persistent foe, until they sink at last exhausted; some- 



THE FLYING FISH. 

times the larger sea-birds catch flying fishes whilst they are in the air. 
They occasionally rise to the height of twenty feet above the water, although 
they more frequently skim along nearer to its surface. They often fall on 
the decks of ships. They are good food, and the natives of the South Sea 
Islands take them by means of small nets attached to light poles, like those 
in which anglers catch minnows for bait. For this purpose, they go out at 
night in canoes, to the outer edge of the coral reefs, with a torch, which 
enables them to see the fishes, and perhaps both attracts and dazzles them. 

The Sea Horse.—This remarkable fish is found near our South 
American coasts. It belongs to the singular order known as Lophobranch , 


































NATURAL HISTORY. 


115 


or tuft-gilled, which differ from other fishes in the peculiar structure of the 
gill arches, by which the gills are arranged in little tufts on each side of the 
head, under the cheek bones or gill covers. The structure of the sea horse’s 
tail is unlike that of any other fish, being covered with an envelope, con¬ 
sisting of long scales, four-sided, prehensile, like that of a monkey, and of 
considerable length. In the act of excluding its young, it catches its tail 
around some object, such as a shell, and drawing its pouch downward 
against the object, pushes up the contents, forcing the young out of the 
opening at the top of the pouch. The sea horse is a very pretty creature. Its 
general color is ashen 
gray; an exceeding¬ 
ly sober suit. But if 
examined more close¬ 
ly, it will be found 
thickly studded with 
tiny spangles of me¬ 
tallic silver; it has 
pretty golden eyes, 
which, independent 
of each other, intent¬ 
ly gaze two ways at 
once. Thus the sea 
horse, though anom¬ 
alous in form and 
habit, has beauty 
united with its 
strange features, and 
grace with its eccen¬ 
tricity. 

Brazilian Tur¬ 
tles. —The size of 
Brazilian turtles may 
be imagined from the 
fact that the flippers 
and feet of one, in 
crawling over the 
sand, leave a track of 
two irregular grooves 
three or four feet 
apart, as though a 
great wagon with the sea hoese. 

cog-wheels had been 

driven over the ground. It is an easy matter to find a turtle’s nest by this 
track. She comes out of the sea, and travels far up the beach to lay her 
eggs in the sand, digging a hole two feet deep for the nest. Professor Hart 
says that he saw a turtle deposit 6ne hundred and forty-three eggs in one of 
these nests. The eggs are all laid at one sitting, covered with sand, and left 
to hatch. They are round and rather larger than hens’ eggs. The Brazilians 
eat the eggs, and also the flesh of the turtle. The creature is captured in a 
curious way. Two persons go behind it, and, taking hold of the shell, turn 
the animal on its back, in which position it is at the mercy of its captors, as 
it is impossible for it to turn on its feet again. 






















































116 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 



THE LYEE-BIED. 














NATURAL niSTORT. 117 

The Lyre-Bird.— Only two species of this singular bird are described, 
both natives of Australia. The common lyre-bud has been placed among 
pheasants. Its name indicates its general resemblance to these. The length 
is about forty-three inches, of which the tail is twenty-five; the bill is rather 
more than an inch long, resembling that of a peacock, strong, keeled, broad 
at the base, and ot a black color; the nostrils long and narrow, in a fosse 
near the middle of its length; the wings moderate and rounded; the body 
about the size of that of a pheasant; tail very long and of a singular form, 
differing in the two sexes. The general color above is brownish black, and 
grayish brown below; the head slightly crested, and the throat rufous; 
there are three kinds of feathers in the tail, which are long, and sixteen in 
number; twelve have long, slender shafts with delicate filaments, more and 
more distant toward the end; the middle two feathers, longer than the rest, 
are pointed at the end and barbed only on the inner edge; the external two 
feathers are broad, growing wider to the ends, and curving outward, like an 
elongated S, the two resembling much the outlines of the ancient lyre. 
They are shy, running rapidly among the brushwood; they live in pairs, in 
rocky places overgrown with bushes. 

The Ostrich. —The ostrich is the largest of all birds now existing, 
being from six to eight feet in height to the top of its head, and an adult 
male weighing from two to three hundred pounds. The male is rather 
larger than the female. The head and upper part of the neck are scantily 
covered with a thin down, through which the skin is visible. The young 
have the head and neck clothed with feathers. The general plumage is 
glossy black in the adult male, dark gray in the female and young, with a 
slight sprinkling of white feathers; the long plumes of the wings and tail are 
white, occasionally marked with black. On each wing are two plumeless 
shafts, not unlike porcupine’s quills. The inner toe is very large, about 
seven inches long, and its claw hoof-like. Whilst the sternum is destitute 
of a keel, and the muscles which move the wings are comparatively weak, 
those which move the legs are of prodigious strength, so that the ostrich is 
not only capable of running with great speed, but of striking such a blow 
with its foot as to make it too formidable for the leopard and other large 
beasts of prey to assail it. It has been often know* to rip open a dog by a 
single stroke, and a man is recorded to have suffered the same fate. The 
eyes of the ostrich are large, and the lids are furnished with lashes. Its 
sight is keen, so that it descries objects at a great distance in the open 
desert. 

The ostrich shuns the presence of man, but is often to be seen in near 
proximity to herds of zebras, quaggas, giraffes, antelopes and other quad¬ 
rupeds. It is gregarious, although the flocks are not generally very large. 
It is polygamous, one male usually appropriating to himself, when he can, 
from two to seven females, which seem to make their nest in common, 
scooping a mere hble in the sand for this purpose. Each female is supposed 
to lay about ten eggs. The eggs are all placed on end in the nest, which 
often contains a large number, whilst around it eggs are generally to be 
found scattered on the Band. By a remarkable instinct, the ostrich sits 
upon the eggs by night, when the cold would be too great for them, and 
leaves them to the sun’s heat during the day. It feeds exclusively on 
vegetable substances, its food consisting in great part of grasses and their 
seeds; so that its visits are much dreaded by the cultivators of the soil in 
the vicinity of its haunts, a flock of ostriches soon making terrible devasta- 


118 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

tion of a field of corn. The speed of the ostrich, when it first sets out, is 
supposed to be not less than sixty miles an hour; but it does not seem to be 
capable of keeping up this speed for a long time. It is successfully hunted 
by men on horseback, who take advantage of its habit of running in a curve, 
instead of a straight line, so that the hunter knows how to proceed in order 
to meet it and get within shot. It is often killed in South Africa by men 
who envelop themselves in ostrich skins, and admirably imitating the man¬ 
ners of the bird, approach it near enough for their purpose, without exciting 
its alarm, and sometimes kill one after another. 

The eggs of the ostrich are much esteemed as an article of food by the 
rude natives of Africa. Each egg weighs about three pounds. They are 



THE OSTKICH. 


usually dressed by being set upright on a fire and stirred about with a 
forked stick, inserted through a hole in the upper end. The thick shell is 
applied to many uses, but particularly for water-vessels. In taking 
ostrich eggs from the nest the South African is careful not to touch any 
with the hand, but uses a long stick to draw them out, that the birds may 
not detect the smell of the intruder, in which case they would forsake the 
nest. 

The great value of the feathers has induced men of late years to 
engage in the domestication of this bird, and ostrich farming is now 
a most lucrative employment at the Cape of Good Hope. It is said 
that a full-grown bird yields one hundred feathers at a picking, which 
coll at Cape Colony for one hundred and eighty dollars. 











NATURAL HISTORY. 119 

The Condor. —The condor is a native of the Andes, and the largest of 
known flying birds. The wings are long, measuring fourteen feet when 
spread, and extremely powerful; the tail short, and wedge-shaped; the gen¬ 
eral color black, which is brightest in old males, the young being of a 
brownish color, which has given rise to a notion that there are two species; 
the males are also distinguished by having great part of the wings white. 
Around the lower part of the neck of both sexes there is a broad white ruflf 


THE CONDOK. 

of downy feathers, above which the skin is bare, and exhibits many folds. 
The condor feeds mostly on carrion. Its voracity is enormous. Tschudi 
mentions one in confinement at Valparaiso which ate eighteen pounds of 
meat in a single day, and seemed next day to have as good an appetite as usual. 
They inhabit regions 10,000 or 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, where 
they breed, making no nest, but laying their eggs on the bare rocks, and 
where they are usually seen in small groups. To these haunts they return, 






120 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

after their descents into the plains for food. The height to which the con¬ 
dor soars in the air exceeds that of any other bird, and is said to be almost 
six perpendicular miles above the level of the sea, or nearly six times the 
ordinary height of the clouds. 

The Vulture _Vultures are mostly found in warm climates, and 

many of them are inhabitants of mountainous regions. They feed on 
carrion, which it seems to be their office in nature to remove from the face 
of the earth, that the evil consequences of its corruption may be prevented. 


THE VULTURE. 

They seldom attack a living animal, but they have been seen to sit and 
watch the approach of death, waiting for their feast. They are not in gen¬ 
eral courageous birds, and often put to flight by birds much Smaller than 
themselves; yet, if unmolested, they readily become familiar with the pres¬ 
ence of man, and some of them seek their food even in the streets of towns, 
in which they are useful as scavengers. They gorge themselves excessively 
when food is abundant, till their crops form a great projection, and sit long 
in a sleepy or half-torpid state to digest their food. They do not carry food 
to their young in their claws, but disgorge it for them from the crop. The 








NATURAL BISTORY. 121 

bareness of their head and neck adapts them for feeding on putrid flesh, 
by which leathers would be defiled; and they are very careful to wash and 
cleanse their plumage. 

The Solitaire. —The solitaire is a wingless bird of the dodo family. 
The male is brownish gray, a little larger than a turkey, but the beak is 
more hooked and the neck longer and straighter; the tail very short, and 
the posterior part of the body rounded; the eyes black and lively, the head 



THE SOLITAIRE. 


without comb or crest. The female smaller and lighter colored. It re¬ 
ceived its name from its being generally seen alone. It is a native of the 
island Rodriguez, a few miles east of Mauritius. It is monogamous, making 
a nest on the ground of the leaves of the palm, laying one egg, larger than 
that of a goose; the young require to be fed in the nest. The flesh is said to 
be fat and good eating, and the food the fruit of the date palm. 

The Bittern.— Bitterns are chiefly distinguished from herons by the 
long, loose plumage of the neck, which they have the power of erecting at 












122 CYCLOPJEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


pleasure, with the rest of their clothing feathers, so as greatly to increase 
their apparent size. The back of the neck, however, is merely downy, or 
almost bare, the long feathers being on the front and sides. Bitterns also 
differ from herons in the greater length of their toes, the middle toe being 
as long as the shank. They are almost all solitary birds, inhabiting reedy 
and marshy places, where they lie during the day, and will almost allow 
themselves to be trodden upon ere they take wing; they feed during the 
night, and then often rise spirally to a great height into the air, and emit 
loud resounding cries. Their iood consists chiefly of frogs, and partly, also, 
offish, lizards, water-insects, etc., and even of small birds and quadrupeds. 



THE BITTERN. 


The claw of the middle toe is serrated on the inner edge, probablv to aid in. 
securing slippery prey. The bird is very widely diffused over the world, 
being found in almost all, at least of the temperate, parts of Europe, Asia, 
Africa and North America, which are sufficiently marshy for its manner of 
life. In size it is rather less than the common heron; the bill is about four 
inches long, the feathers on the crown of the head are greenish black, and 
the plumage in general of a dull yellow color, beautifully and irregularly 
marked and mottled with black. It makes a rude nest of sticks, reeds, etc. 
in its marshy haunts, and lays four or five greenish-brown eggs. It has a 
peculiar bellowing cry, which has obtained for it such names as Mure-drum 





123 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


Bull of the Bog, etc. Some naturalists used to assert that the booming cry of 
the bittern was produced by the bird inserting its bill into a reed; that no¬ 
tion, however, has long since been exploded. When assailed, it fights des¬ 
perately with bill and claws; and it is dangerous to approach it incautiously 
when wounded, as its strikes with its long sharp bill, if possible, at the 
eye. 


The Heron. —The bill of the heron is long, compressed, and sharp; the 
tail short; the legs and the toes long and slender; the wings long; the bill is 
slender, but strong, forming a compressed and lengthened cone; the 
plumage is beautiful, but seldom exhibits very gay colors; white, brown, 
black, and slate color, finely blended, being generally predominant. The 
body is small in proportion to the length of the neek and limbs; the neck is 
long, and, except in flight, is usually held curved. In flight, the heron car- 



THE HERON. 


ries the neck, head, and long bill in a straight line before the body, and the 
long legs in like manner stretched out behind. Herons feed mostly on fish, 
frogs, and other aquatic animals; and may be seen, particularly very early 
in the morning and late in the evening, standing patiently motionless m 
some shallow water, at the margin of a lake or stream, or on the sea-shore, 
waiting till prey come within reach. In default of their more common food, 
however, herons sometimes prey on young birds, reptiles, and the smaller 
mammalia. They usually go forth singly in quest of prey, but are mostly 
gregarious. 

The Cuckoo.— The name cuckoo is derived from the note of the male, 
which, although monotonous, is always heard with pleasure. It frequents 
both cultivated districts and moors. There is no pairing or continued at- 






124 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


tachment of the male and female, and the female, after having laid an egg on 
the ground, deposits it, with her beak, in the nest of some other smaller 
bird, leaving the egg to be hatched and the young one to be fed by the 
proper owners of the nest. The egg of the cuckoo is very small for so large 
a bird, being not larger than the skylark’s, and the number she will lay is 
uncertain; but the young one soon acquires size and strength enough to 
eject from the nest any eggs which may remain in it, or unfortunate young 
birds, the true offspring of its foster-parents, and it seems restless and un¬ 
easy till this is accomplished. It works itself under them, and then jerks 
them out by a motion of its rump. Its back at this early age exhibits a pe¬ 
culiar depression between the shoulders, so that an egg or a young bird can 
easily be got to lie upon it; but this depression soon disappears, and with it 

the singular instinct with 
which it is supposed to be 
connected. 

The Roseate Spoon- 

hill.— Spoonbill is the com¬ 
mon name of the wading 
birds, characterized by a much 
depressed bill, very broad and 
dilated at the end in the shape 
of a rounded spoon. Wings 
long, second quill the longest; 
tail short; legs long; toes 
webbed at the base. There 
are about a half dozen species, 
found in all quarters of the 
globe, migrating to warm cli¬ 
mates at the approach of win¬ 
ter. They frequent marshy 
inlets of the sea and the bor¬ 
ders of lakes and rivers, wad¬ 
ing about in search of fish, 
worms, frogs; they can swim 
and even dive. The roseate 
spoonbill is about thirty 
inches long, the bill being 
seven inches, and covered 
the roseate spoonblll. with a soft skin; the head is 

of moderate size, bare, the 
skin yellowish green, the neck long and slender, and body compact. The 
color is rosy red, paler in front, and white on the neck; and lower part of 
the throat bright, carmine; tail feathers, ochrey yellow; the young have 
the head leathered, the carmine tint wanting and the tail rosy. It is 
found in the southern Atlantic and Gulf States, and is abundant in the 
Indian river, Florida. They are essentially nocturnal, though they often 
feed by day when the tide suits; they fly with the neck and legs ex¬ 
tended, and rise rapidly to a great height. They alight easily on trees, and 
can walk on the large branches; the nest is usually in the top of a mangrove, 
ooarsely made; the eggs are three, white, sprinkled all over with bright 
spots. They breed and are seen in flocks; the beautiful feathers of the 
wings are made into fans. 



NATURAL HISTORY. 


125 



The Eagle.— From the most ancient times, the eagle has been univer¬ 
sally regarded as the emblem of might and courage; and, like the lion, it 
has been fancifully invested with other attributes of greatness, such as men 
thought to harmonize with these. Its extraordinary power of vision, the 
vast height to which it soars in the sky, the wild grandeur of the scenery 
amidst which it chiefly loves to make its abode, and perhaps also its lon¬ 
gevity, have concurred to recommend it to poetic regard. The golden eagle 
is the largest of the European species, and is found not only throughout 
Europe, preferring wild and mountainous situations, but throughout almost 
the whole northern 
hemisphere; it is 
among the birds of 
India, of the north 
of Africa, and of 
North America; and 
the savage warrior 
of the Eocky Moun¬ 
tains, as well as the 
Highland chieftain, 
glories in his eagle 
plume. It builds its 
nest only in moun¬ 
tainous districts, 
carryinga fewsticks 
and brambles to the 
inaccessible shelf of 
a rocky precipice, 
where the eggs are 
deposited almoston 
the bare rock. 

The Stork.— 

The stork is about 
three feet and a half 
inlength. Thehead, 
neck, and whole 
body are pure white 
—the wings partly 
black—and the bill 
and legs red. The the stork. 

neck is long and 

generally carried in an arched form; the feathers of .the breast are long and 
pendulous, and the bird often has its bill half hidden among them. It fre¬ 
quents marshy places, feeding on eels and other fishes, batrachians, reptiles, 
young birds and small mammals. It makes a rude nest of sticks, reeds, 
etc., on the tops of tall trees, or of ruins, spires or houses. In many parts 
of Europe, especially^! Holland, it is a very common practice to place boxes 
for storks, and it is considered a fortunate thing for a household that the 
box on the roof is occupied. Storks are protected by law in some countries, 
on account of their good services not only in destroying reptiles and other 
troublesome animals, but in the removal of offal from the streets of towns, 
in which they stalk about with perfect confidence, even in the midst of 
throngs of people. They have been celebrated from ancient times for the 













126 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


affection which they display towards their young; and have also had the 
reputation—not so well founded—of showing great regard to their aged 
parents. Before they take their departure from their summer haunts, they 
congregate in large flocks, which make a great noise by the clattering of 
their mandibles, and are popularly regarded as holding consultation. The 
stork has no voice. Its flight is powerful and very high in the air. 


The Crane _The family to which this bird belongs differs from herons, 

bitterns, storks, etc., in having the hind-toe placed higher on the leg than 

the lront ones. It 
consists also of 
birds less addicted 
to marshy places, 
and which feed not 
only on animal, but, 
to a considerable 
extent, on vegetable 
food. They are all 
large bird3, long 
legged, long necked 
and of powerful 
wing, although 
their wings are 
rounded and not 
elongated; some of 
them performing 
great migrations, 
and flying at a pro¬ 
digious height in 
the air. The crane 
breeds in the north¬ 
ern parts, of Eu¬ 
rope, Asia, and 
North America, re¬ 
tiring in winter to 
tropical or sub¬ 
tropical regions. 
When standing, it 
is about four feet 
THE crane. in height; the pre¬ 

vailing color is ash- 

gray, the face and throat nearly black, the wing primaries black. The ter- 
tial feathers of the wings are elongated, reaching beyond the ends of the 
primaries, and their webs are unconnected; they are varied and tipped with 
bluish-black, and are the well-known plumes once much used in ornamental 
head dresses. It feeds on roots, seeds, etc., as well as on worms, insects, 
reptiles, and even some of the smallest quadrupeds. 


The Crested Grebe.— Grebe is the generally accepted name for all 
the birds of the family Podicipedidce, belonging to the group Pygopodes of 
Illiger, members of which inhabit almost all parts of the world. Grebes are 
at once distinguishable from all other water-birds by their very short body 
and the peculiar structure of their feet, whioh are not only placed far behind, 




NATURAL HISTORY, 


127 


but have the tarsi flattened and elongated toes furnished with broad lobes 
of skin. In Europe there are five well-marked species; North America is 
credited with seven, while South America possesses five. The crested 
grebe, known in some parts of England as the loon, is widely spread over 
both worlds, and though apparently not found within the tropics, is known 
in the extreme south as a native of Australia and New Zealand. Grebes in 
general, though averse to taking wing, have much greater powers of flight 
than would seem possible on examination of their alar organs, and are ca- 



THE CRESTED GREBE. 

pable of prolonged serial journeys. The plumage is short and close. Above, 
it is commonly of some shade of brown, but beneath it is invariably white, 
and so glossy as to be in much request for muffs and the trimming of ladies 
dresses. Some species are remarkable for the crests or tippets, generally 
of a golden chestnut color, they assume in the breeding season. P. ciurtiui, 
the subject of our engraving, is particularly remarkable in this respect, and 
when in the full nuptial attire presents an extraordinary aspect, the hea 
(being surmounted, as it were, by a nimbus or aureole, such as that with 
which painters adorn saintly characters), reflecting the rays of light, g itteis 
with a glory that passes description. Young grebes are beautiful objec s, 
clothed with black, white and brown hair disposed in streaks, and their bill 



























128 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

often brilliantly tinted with yellow. On land they are awkward creatures, 
but in water they equal, if indeed they do not surpass, their parents, in the 
power of diving, which is a special accomplishment of all grebes. 

The Cormorant. —This is a genus of web-footed birds of the family 
Pelecanidce having, like the rest of that family, the hind-toe united in a single 
membrane with the other toes. The species are distributed over the coasts 
of most parts of the world; some of them occasionally ascending rivers in 
pursuit of fish, on which all of them exclusively live, and even visiting inland 
lakes. They are proverbial for their excessive voracity. They do not take 
their prey by diving when on wing, but pursue it by swimming and diving, 
using their wings in progress under water, and descend to a wonderful 



THE CORMORANT. 


depth; the smaller of the two British species has been caught in a crab-pot 
fastened one hundred and twenty feet under water. When the prey has 
been caught in a manner inconvenient for swallowing, they toss it in the air, 
and adroitly catch it as it descends. Some of the species frequent high 
rocks, others low islands, on which they make rudG nests, chiefly of sea¬ 
weed; some perch and even build their nests on mangroves and other trees. 
Their eggs are covered with a calcareous incrustation. The flesh of all the 
species is dark, and of a fishy taste, but is sometimes used as food, particu¬ 
larly that of young birds. The commonest species are the common cormo¬ 
rant, which is mostly of a black color, but for a short time during the breed¬ 
ing season exhibits a sprinkling of longish white, almost bristly feathers on 
the head and back of the neck; and the green cormorant, which is of smaller 
size and of a prevailing dark green color. The common cormorant is about 
thirty-three inches long. It is a very widely distributed species. It was 






NATURAL HISTORY. 129 

formerly sometimes tamed in England, to be employed in catching fish and 
is still trained to this use in China. 

The Bird of Paradise.—This is the common name of a family of 
birds, Pciradiseidaz of ornithologists, found chiefly in New Guinea and neigh¬ 
boring islands, and remarkable for splendor of plumage. In all other re¬ 
spects, however, they are very closely allied to the crow family. The male# 
alone are birds of splendid plumage, that of the females possessing neither 



THE BIRD OF PARADISE. 

brilliancy of colors nor remarkable development. The plumage of the 
males is not only characterized by great brightness of tints, but by a glossy, 
velvety appearance, a metallic lustre, and a singularly beautiful play of 
colors. Tufts of feathers generally grow from the shoulders, and these, in 
some of the kinds, are prolonged so as to cover the wings; in the species 
sometimes called the common Bird of Paradise, and sometimes the Great 
Emerald Bird of Paradise, the prolongation of these shoulder tufts is so 
great, that they extend far beyond the body, and even far beyond the tail. 
They constitute the most magnificent part of the well-known Bird of Para- 



































130 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 


dise plumes. They are exquisitely light and delicate. These birds are, in 
general, more or less gregarious. They sometimes pass in flocks from one 
island to another, according to the change of seasons, from the dry to the 
wet monsoon. Owing to their plumage, they fly more easily against than 
with the wind, and by high winds they are sometimes thrown to the ground. 
Their food consists in great part of the fruit of the teak tree, and of different 
species of fig, and also of the large butterflies which abound in their native 
islands. The Papuans kill them by shooting them with arrows, and employ 
various other means of taking them for the sake of their skins. The com¬ 
mon Bird of Paradise is as large as a jay. It is of a cinnamon color, the 
upper part of the head and neck yellow, the front and throat emerald green, 

the shoulder-tufts yellow. The 
whole length of the extremity 
of these is not less than two 
feet. 

The Palcon.— This fa¬ 
mous bird of prey is charac¬ 
terized by a bill curved from 
the base, the upper mandible 
hooked at the point, and the 
cutting edge of the upper man¬ 
dible furnished with a strong 
projecting notch, or tooth. The 
claws are also sharp, curved, 
and strong; and in accordance 
with all this powerful arma¬ 
ture, the whole frame is very 
robust and muscular. The 
legs are rather short, and 
have great power in striking 
or seizing prey. The keel of 
the sternum (breastbone) is 
very large, and adapted for 
the attachment of powerful 
muscles; the furcula and cora¬ 
coid bones are also very strong, so as to afford a sufficient resisting base for 
very powerful action of the wings. The wings are long and pointed, the first, 
and third quill-feathers of equal length, the second rather the longest, the 
first and second emarginated near the tip. The true falcons are bolder in 
proportion to their size than any other Falconidce —even eagles. Their acute¬ 
ness of vision is wonderful, and they have very great powers of flight. A 
falcon is known to have traversed the distance between Fontainbleau and 
Malta, not less than 1,350 miles, in twenty-four hours. The speed obtained 
by a falcon in pursuit of its prey has been calculated to be at the rate of 150 
miles an hour. They soar to a prodigious height in the air, always endeav¬ 
oring to outsoar any bird of which they may be in pursuit, and to swoop 
down upon it from above; although it is far more difficult for them to rise 
vertically in a calm atmosphere than for birds of short and rounded wing } 
and they either rise obliquely—often also making their onward flight in a 
series of arcs—or avail themselves of the wind, and by flying against it, are 
borne aloft as a boy’s kite is. The species are numerous; some of them are 
of very wide distribution, while others are peculiar to certain countries. 



131 


N A T UR A L III ST OR Y. 

The Tailor -Bird.—This is a genus of birds of the family Sylviadce ; 
with a long, graduated tail, the feathers of which are narrow. The species 
are numerous, natives of the East Indies and of the Indian Archipelago, and 
haunt cultivated grounds, where they are commonly seen in pairs. Their 
flight is rapid and undulating, and they seldom ascend above the lower 
branches of trees. The name tailor-bird is derived from the way in which 
the nest is formed. Two leaves are taken at the extremity of a twig, and 
are sewed together by their edges, or a large leaf is sewed together; the 



THE TAILOR-BIRD. 


necessary holes being made by the bill, and vegetable fibers forming the 
thread. Within the hollow thus made, a quantity of a cottony substance is 
placed to receive the eggs. 

The Thrush.— The song thrush, or throstle, the mavis of the Scotch, is 
smaller than the black-bird, its whole length being not quite nine inches. 
Its plumage is brown, of various finely-mingled shades; the throat, sides of 
the neck, breast, and flanks yellowish, spotted with dark brown; the belly 
nearly white, with a few spots of dark brown; a dark brown streak, with a 
lighter brown streak over it, passing from the bill to the eye. It is found in 
all parts of Europe, but deserts some of the northern parts in winter, being 
tbhs partially a bird of passage. It feeds on ihsects, worms, slugs, snails. 




THE WHEATEAR. 

mer visitant of Great Britain, abounding on downs and fallow fields. Its 
geographic range is wide. Its winter retreat is in the countries near the 
Mediterranean, and chiefly in Africa; its summer migrations extend to the 
farthest north of Europe, and to Iceland and Greenland. The entire length 
of the wheatear is about six inches and a half; the tail is almost square; the 
wings are long and pointed; and the legs are long, enabling the bird to hop 
about actively in quest of food. Its food consists of worms and insects, and 
it may often be seen perched on the top of a clod or stone, looking out for 
them, and at the same time on the watch against enemies. The male is of 
an ash-brown color on the upper parts; the forehead, a band above the eyes, 
and the throat, white; a black mark extending from the base of the bill to 


132 GYGL OPYEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


berries, and seods. It often makes its nest in the center of a thick bush or 
shrub, and sometimes in an open shed. The eggs are usually four or five 
in number. The male takes part in the work of incubation, and is very at¬ 
tentive in feeding his mate while so occupied. The throstle is well known 
as one of the sweetest songsters of the groves. In captivity, it has been 
taught simple airs. 


The Wheatear.—The wheatear or fallow-chat is a bird of the genus 
popularly known by the name chat, of the family Syloiadce , a common sum- 



NATURAL HIS TORY. 


m 




each eye, and expanding behind it, so as to cover the orifice of the ear; the 
wings, black; the rump, and two thirds of the tail, except the two middle 
feathers, white; the tip of the 
tail, black; the two middle feath¬ 
ers of the tail, entirely black; the 
breast, buff-color; the belly and 
flanks, pale buffy white. The fe¬ 
male is less gaily colored, brown 
and gray prevailing. The wheat- 
ear makes its nest in an old wall, 
or in a crevice of a quarry or 
gravel-pit, often in a deserted 
rabbit-burrow, and generally lays 
six pale-blue eggs. 

The American Bluejay. 

—This beautiful bird is common 
to nearly all sections of the Uni¬ 
ted States, from the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico to Canada. It is an inhabitant 
of forests and wooded districts, 
and feeds principally upon seeds 
and fruits. The head is furnished 
with a crest of erectile feathers; 
the tail is long and rounded. The 
general color of the upper parts 
is bright purplish-blue; the wings 
and tail white, barred with black; 
the neck surrounded with a 
curved black collar. They build 
in thick trees or bushes, and their nest is a basket-like structure of small 
sticks, lined with fine roots and grasses; the eggs, five or six in number, are 
yellowish-white, minutely and thickly speckled with light brown. The char¬ 
acter of the bird is omniv¬ 
orous, and it often robs 
the nests of other birds. 

The Skylark.— The 

skylark is one of the best 
known British birds, and 
notwithstanding the tame¬ 
ness of its brown plumage, 
is a universal favorite, on 
account of the sweetness 
of its cheerful song, which 
it pours forth while soar¬ 
ing and floating in the air. 
It more rarely sings on 
the ground. It is in great repute as a cage-bird, and sings well m confine- 

men^but flutters its°wings while singing as if [**.' tT^lfisTommoM 
the air. It abounds chiefly in open but cultivated districts. It is commoa 

in most parts of Europe, but from the more northern parts it migrates south¬ 
ward on the approach of winter. It is also a native of Asia, --, 


THE AMERICAN BLUEJAY. 


THE SKYLARK. 




134 CYCLOPEDIA OF VSEFVL KttOWLPD OF. 




The Belted Kingfisher.— Many species of the kingfisher family are 

found in various parts of the world. 
The belted kingfisher is peculiar 
to North America, and is a larger 
bird than the kingfisher of Great 
Britain, being fully twelve inches 
in length, but inferior in brilliancy 
of plumage. It is common upon 
most of our rivers during the warm 
season, but migrates southward in 
winter, and is then to be found in 
the West Indies. Its food consists 
of small fishes,’such as minnows, 
sticklebacks, and trout or salmon 
fry, and of leeches and water in¬ 
sects. When it has caught a fish, 
it often kills it by beating it on a 
branch, and always swallows it 
head foremost. 

The Starling. —The common 
starling of the old world is a beau¬ 
tiful bird, rather smaller than the 
song-thrush or mavis, brown, finely 
glossed with black, with a pale tip 
to each feather, giving the bird a 
fine speckled appearance, particu¬ 
larly on the breast and shoulders. 
Starlings make artless nests of 
slender twigs, roots and dry grass, in hollow trees, in holes of cliffs, under 
eaves of houses, or, 
readily enough, in 
boxes, which are often 
placed for them in 
trees or elsewhere near 
houses. They fre¬ 
quently breed twice in 
a season, and in au¬ 
tumn they unite in 
large flocks. The star¬ 
ling becomes very fa¬ 
miliar in confinement, 
and displays great imi¬ 
tative powers. Its song 
is soft and sweet. The 
American starling or 
meadow lark is larger 
than the common star¬ 
ling. It is common in 
the United States, mi¬ 
grating northwards in 
spring, and south¬ 
wards in autumn, and congregating in great flocks in autumn and winter, 


THE BELTED KINGFISHER. 


THE STARLING. 






NATURAL HISTORY. 


135 


Tlie Bobolink.— This beautiful bird generally makes its nest in a 
grassy meadow, an artless structure of a few dry stalks and leaves, with a 
lining of finer grass. It displays the same instinct with many other birds, 
of seeking to lead intruders away from its nest, by pretending great anxiety 
about some other part of the field. During the breeding season, the males 
are very musical, singing mostly in the air, in which they seem to rise and 
fall in successive jerks. Their song is very pleasing, and is emitted with a 
volubility bordering on the burlesque. On account of their beauty and 
powers of song, many are caught, caged, and sold in New York and other 
markets. 

Tlie Titlark.— This bird is familiarly known in many parts of England 
and of Scotland as the Moss-cheeper. It is found m almost all parts of 
Europe, and the north of Asia, in Western India, in Japan, and in Iceland. 
It is a small bird, its color brown of various shades. It frequents heaths, 
mosses, and pastures; and usually makes its nest on a grassy bank, or 



THE TITLARK. 


beside ft tuft of grass or heath. Its song is weak and plaintive, and it gen¬ 
erally sings in the air. It is gregarious in winter. The cuckoo is said to 
deposit its egg more frequently in the nest of the titlark than in that of any 
other British bird. A rather larger British species is the tree pipit or field 
titling, which has a shorter claw, and perches on trees, frequenting enclosed 
and wooded districts. It is a summer visitant of Britain, and most common 
in the south of England. It occurs in most parts of Europe, in Asia and the 
north of Africa. 

Butterflies. —If, having never seen nor heard of a butterfly, one were 
to meet our gaze as on winnowing wings it danced through the summer air, 
from flower to flower, should we conceive it possible that it had ever been a 
crawling and voracious worm, and then a torpid being enveloped like a 
mummy in a case, whence it sprung forth in newness of life, light winged, 
and graceful in every movement, and arrayed with beauty ? Although we 
know this to be the fact, when we look at the sluggish, leaf-eating cater- 


136 cyclopaedia op vseppl knowledge . 

pillar, and contrast it with what it will he, when on broad wings it traverses 
garden and meadow, extracting from the flowers their nectar for food, we 
feel involuntary emotions of wonder, so striking is the contrast. 

On its exclusion from the egg the caterpillar is of very small size; its 
growth, however, soon commences, and is as rapid as its appetite is vora¬ 
cious. As, however, it is clothed in an outer skin which is not extensible, 
this investment, like the armor of the lobster, must be repeatedly changed. 
Beneath the old outer skin, or epidermis, which soon begins to be loosened, 



BUTTEBFLIES. 


a new one is formed; a rent takes the place from the swelling out of the 
animal, down the back of the old skin, and this rent gradually increases, 
till the animal with a brighter epidermis, frees itself from its discarded 
weeds and appears of larger dimensions. During this process, which is 
often repeated, the caterpillar is sluggish and inactive, and refuses food; 
but when the process is over, it recovers its former voracity. During all 
this time the caterpillar is laying up an accumulation of fat to serve the 
wants of the system during the time of its torpid pupa state, which it is now 
preparing for. Beneath the last cuticle assumed, the vital energies of the 






NATURAL HISTORY. 


137 


System have developed wings, antennae , a slender proboscis, and all the 
parts of the perfect butterfly, or moth, that is to be. This last cuticle or 
epidermis is, however, yet to be cast off, and another is formed to clothe 
the pupa, which in its turn is to be broken open for Jhe exit of the perfect 
insect. Previously, however, to the pupa stage being assumed, it secures 
itself by means of its silk in a position varying according to the species. 
Suppose it merely suspends itself by the tail; in this case the first care of 
the caterpillar is to cover the spot to which it is about to suspend itself with 
successive layers of silken threads, which readily adhere, till at last a little 
silken cone is produced, into which the caterpillar pushes its hinder pair of 
prolegs (those on the last segment), which become entangled, and so fixed, 
amid the threads; it then permits itself to hang down with the head lowest. 
In a short time it begins to bend its back, bringing the head near the 
attached feet; and, after continuing for some time in this attitude, it 
straightens itself, and repeats the same action. In about twenty-four hours 
the outer skin begins to split down the back, and the fissure is enlarged by 
the swelling of the chrysalis till at length the head and lower portion of the 
suspended being become disengaged, the skin shrivelling up into a bundle 
surrounding the tail. This, however, has to be thrown off, and at the same 
time the chrysalis has to avoid disengaging itself from its mooring of silken 
threads from which it hangs; for, be it remembered, it was by its hind legs 
that it attached itself. 

To effect this, instinct guided, it seizes on a portion of this shrivelled 
skin between two segments of its body, holding it as with a pair of pincers, 
and thus destitute of limbs, supports itself, till it withdraws the tail from 
the old useless skin which sheathed it; then, still clinging, elongates the 
rings of its tail as much as possible, and seizes a higher portion of the skin, 
and in this manner, climbing backward as it were upon its exuvice, it repeats 
the manoeuvre till the extremity of the tail presses the silk, to which it 
immediately adheres by means of a number of hooks provided for the pur¬ 
pose. Still these exuvice encumber it and hang in contact with it; curving 
its tail in such a manner as partly to embrace the shrivelled skin, it whirls 
rapidly round, jerking violently, and at length succeeds in disengaging it 
from its fastenings and throwing it to the ground. In a short time the 
chrysalis hardens, and shows through the outer case the wings, antennae , 
eyes, and legs of the perfect insect. It now passes into a sort of torpid 
state, till the time arrives for the exit of the perfect butterfly from its case. 
The butterfly, when ready for exclusion, bursts the skin of the chrysalis, 
now to be thrown off, which cover the thorax, and emerges, feeble and 
languid, with wings crumpled up into small bundles. Soon, however, the 
body acquires strength; the fluids circulate through the nerves of the wings; 
these gradually unfold, and the creature quivers them, as it feels its growing 
powers; at length, in the perfection of strength and beauty, it leaves its 
sordid mummy-case behind, sores aloft, seeks the flowers of the garden, 
and commences a new existence. 

The rest of the story is soon told; bright things must fade; the butterfly 
enjoys a brief summer, deposits its eggs on the plants which instinct teaches 
it are the appropriate nourishment of the future caterpillar, and passes out 
of existence. 

The Humble Bee. —The domicile of the humble bee is a simple exca¬ 
vation in some bank, a little chamber of about six or eight inches in 
diameter, to which leads a long winding passage, capable of admitting of 


138 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the ingress and egress respectively of two bees at the same time. Some 
species, as the bombas muscorum, select a shallow excavation which they 
dome over with a felt of moss or withered grass, lined with a coat of wax to 
render it waterproof; but the bombus teirestris makes or enlarges a subter¬ 
ranean vault, a foot beneath the surface of the ground, and in this is the 
colony established. The population, however, is not numerous, seldom 
exceeding one or two hundred, and may be divided into females , males and 
workers. The females are of two sorts, very large and small. The large 
females, or queens, look like giants compared to the smaller females and 
workers; they produce males, females and workers, but the small females 
produce only small eggs. The large females, then, we may regard as the 
founders of every colony; and by following up the details we shall be able 
to render the plan clearly intelligible. These large females, in an estab¬ 
lished colony, emerge from their pupa state in the autumn, and pair in that 



NEST OF THE COMMON HUMBLE BEE. 

season with males, the produce of the small females which have previously 
acquired their due development. Now on the approach of winter these 
large females, the pairing time over, retire each to a little snug apartment, 
lined with moss or grass, and separate from the general vault, passing the 
cold season in a state of torpidity. Early in the spring they awake, issue 
forth, and take different directions, seeking for some convenient spot in 
which to begin their labors. At this time of the year large females may be 
often observed exploring every cavity, hole or crevice in banks or on the 
ground; they are seeking a fit site for their operations. We will now sup¬ 
pose one of these queens to have formed and established herself in her 
chamber; she begins to collect honey and pollen, and constructs cells in 
which her eggs are to be deposited. So rapidly are the latter built, that to 
make a cell, fill it with honey and pollen (the food of the young), commit 
one or two eggs to it, and cover them in, requires little more than half an 
hour. Her first and most numerous brood consists only of workers, which, 













N A T UU A L Ills TO li T. 


139 


as soon as excluded from tlie pupa, assist tlieir parent in all her labors. Her 
next consists of large and small females and males; these appear in August 
or September; but, if Huber be correct, the male eggs, or some of them at 
least, are laid in the spring with those that have to produce workers. We 
have now, then, small and large females, males and workers, the produce 
of the original queen who singly began to found this establishment. It will 
be interesting to look a little closer into their transactions; and, first, those 
of the workers. These are by far the most numerous tenants of the colony, 
and to them is intrusted the reparation of any part by the deposition of 
wax, and the spreading of it in patches over the roof. When in any of the 
cells one of the larvae has spun its cocoon and assumed the pupa state, it is 
their department to remove all the wax away from it; and after the pupa 
has attained its perfect state, which takes place in about five days, to cut 
open the cocoon, in order that the perfect insect may emerge from its im¬ 
prisonment; it is theirs, moreover, to supply the young grubs with food 
after they have consumed the stock deposited with each egg in the cell, and 
regularly feed them either with honey or pollen introduced m their pro¬ 
boscis through a small hole in the cover * of each cell, opened as occasion 
may require, and carefully covered up again. As the grubs increase in size 
the cells which contained them respectively become too small, and by their 
struggles the thin slides split; the breaches thus produced they repair with 
wax as fast as they occur, attentive to see where their services are required; 
and it is in this manner that the cells gradually acquire an increase of size 
to accommodate the increasing larvae. Besides these duties, in chilly 
weather and at night the workers brood over the pupa shrouded in their 
cocoons, in order to impart the necessary warmth and maintain a due degree 
of temperature. They relieve the mother queen, in fact of half her cares 
and nearly all her labor. In some nests there are from forty to sixty honey 
pots, the cocoons of the bees recently emerged from their pupa condition, 
and more than half of these are often filled in a* single day. 

The workers have plenty of business on their hands and are busy all 
summer long. But tne winter comes and they all perish; they have fulfilled 
their allotted part, and their services are no more needed. From the 
workers let us pass to the mother queen, and inquire into her duties and 
actions. The workers are her first progeny, and we must suppose her sur¬ 
rounded by them. They are watching all her movements, for she is about 
to deposit in the cells the eggs from which the second brood is to spring; 
and, by a strange instinct, they endeavor to seize the eggs as soon as laid, 
and devour them. It is not easy to understand the object to be accomplished 
by this procedure on the part of the workers, unless it be to keep the popu¬ 
lation within due bounds. Be this as it may the female has to exert herself 
to the utmost to prevent her eggs from being all devoured. When she has 
deposited her eggs in the cells and closed them up with wax, she has still 
to keep very close watch over them for six or eight hours, otherwise the 
workers would immediately open the cells and devour their contents. After 
this period, strange to say, the nature of the workers seems changed; they 
no longer evince any appetite for devouring the eggs or destroying the cell3. 
From these eggs proceed a few large females, to be at a future day the 
founders of colonies; a few males, and small females, closely resembling the 
workers, but attended by the females which form their court. These small 
females now begin to prepare cells for their eggs, which rouses the anger 
and jealousy of the mother queen to the highest pitch. Sh6 assaults them 
with fury, driving them away; puts her head into the cells, and devours 


140 CYCLOPAEDIA OP VSPPUL KNOWLEDGE. 


their eggs, and is in turn herself assaulted and forced to retreat. They then 
contend among themselves for various cells, several females often endeavor¬ 
ing to lay their eggs at the same time in the same cell, but after a short 
period tranquility seems restored. These small females all perish on the 
commencement of winter. Their produce consists only of males, which pair 
with the large females in the autumn, the latter retiring to their hybernacu- 
lum and sleeping till spring. The males are rather larger than the small 
females whence they spring, and their antennae are longer and more slender. 
They are not an idle race, for Beaumur asserts that they work in concert 
with the rest to repair any damage that may befall their common habitation. 
They act in some sort as scavengers of the settlement, removing every sort 
of rubbish, and the dead bodies of such individuals as may chance to die, 
but do not forage for building materials and provisions, nor do they take 
any share in rearing and attending to the young. Such, then, is an outline 
of the proceedings which occur in every colony of humble bees, all of 
which, with the exception of a few large females destined to continue the 
race, perish at the close of autumn. 

Spiders —There are several species of spiders, divided into two classes, 
the sedentary and the wandering spiders. To the first class belong the orb- 
weavers, who make a circular web; the line weavers, whose web is labyrin- 
thian; the tube weavers, who hang their nests on walls or rocks or branches 
of trees; and the tunnel-we avers, who live in tunnels cut into the earth, and 
having automatic doors ingeniously contrived. 

Spiders are not sociable creatures; they are generally, on the contrary, 
of solitary habits, and are mostly cannibals, eating each other with great 
gusto. They mate in the spring and autumn, and the mating is often a very 
trying and dangerous time. They reverse the order of nature in one re¬ 
spect, for the males are infinitely inferior in every respect to the females, 
and the latter are well aware of the fact. Their courtships are scenes of 
violence, and not of love and peace. The lady looks with sublime contempt 
upon the gentleman, and keeps him at a distance. He can only approach 
her by stratagem, and sometimes she nips off one of his legs in her anger, 
and casts him adrift a cripple. A spider will never eat her own young, but 
the males will destroy them when they can. The mother either goes away 
or dies soon after the hatching of her eggs, which number about one hun¬ 
dred to each nest, and the little ones are thrown upon the world almost as 
soon as they see light. There are several varieties, however, who carry 
their eggs in a silk pouch until they are hatched. 

Spiders have numerous enemies, and much of their clever nest-building 
is designed for protection against these inroads. Toads and birds destroy 
them by the thousand, and a little parasite called the ichneumon —a small 
fly—lays its eggs in the cocoons of the spider, and when the larvae appears 
it feeds first on the spider’s eggs, and later on the young spiders. Orb- 
weavers and line-weavers desert their eggs when laid, and meet their off¬ 
spring, where they live so long, as strangers. Another bitter enemy of the 
spider is the mud-daubing wasp, who has a process that might be valuable 
to humanity, if it could be discovered, of keeping a supply of fresh meat. 
When they capture a spider that is not needed for present use, they sting it 
in such a manner that it lives, but has no power to move until such time as 
the captor is ready to devour it. 

If you anchor a pole in a body of water, leaving the pole above the sur¬ 
face, and put a spider upon it, he will exhibit marvelous intelligence by his 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


141 


plans to escape. At first he will spin a web several inches long, and hang 
to one end - while he allows the other to float off in the wind, in the hope that 
it will strike some object. Of course this plan proves a failure, but the 
spider is not discouraged. He waits until the wind changes, and then sends 
another silken bridge floating off in another direction. Another failure is 
followed by several other similar attempts, until all the points of the com¬ 
pass have been tried. But neither the resources nor reasoning powers of 
the spider are exhausted. He climbs to the top of the pole and energeti¬ 
cally goes to work to construct a silken balloon. He has no hot air with 
which to inflate it, but he has the power of making it buoyant. When he 
gets his balloon finished he does not go off upon the mere supposition that it 
will carry him, as men often do, but he fastens it to a guyrope, the other end 
of which he attaches to the island pole, upon which he is a prisoner. He then 



A spider’s web. 

gets into his aerial vehicle, while it is made fast, and tests it to see whether 
its dimensions are capable of bearing him away. He often finds that he has 
made it too small, in which case he hauls it down, takes it all apart and 
constructs it on a larger and better plan. A spider has been seen to. make 
three different balloons before he became satisfied with his experiment. 
Then he will get in, snap the guyrope and sail away, to land as gracefully 
and as supremely independent of his surroundings as could be well 
imagined. 

The Wasp.—Wasps differ very widely in their habits, some being soli¬ 
tary, others social. Some of the solitary wasps make curious burrows in 
sand, or construct tubes of earthy paste on the sides of walls, m which they 
form cells for their eggs, at the same time placing there a store of food tor 


















142 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


the larvae, some of them using for this purpose perfect insects. Others make 
little earthen cells on the stems of plants, and store in them a little honey 
for their young. The social wasps have various modes of constructing their 
nests, which are sometimes formed in excavations in the ground, sometimes 
attached to walls, boughs of trees, etc., and formed of a paper-like substance, 
produced by mixing into a pulp, with their saliva, small particles of woody 
fibre. The combs are made of a substance similar to the outer covering of 
the nest, but generally thicker and firmer. As the nest is enlarged, new 
paper is made for the purpose, the whole nest being enclosed in the last- 
made envelope, and the inner ones, which sufficed for its former size, are 
removed to give place to combs. 

The Water Spider —The Arggroneia aquatic is a plain, dark-brown 
spider, densely hairy. It dives from a leaf on the surface, and, as it plunges 



THE WATER SPIDER. 

in, a bubble of air surrounds it attached to its hairy body. Arrived at a de¬ 
sirable location in the midst of a matted mass of water plants, it sets the 
bubble free by means of its feet in such a manner that it shall lodge amid 
the vegetation. It repeats the journey until finally the bubble thus pro¬ 
duced is large enough; it then spins around its upper part a net to retain 
it, and anchors this net to the neighboring water plants. If this thimble¬ 
shaped diving-bell does not contain enough air, more is now brought down, 
until finally the satisfied creature establishes itself within its aquatic 
domicile to look out for passing prey. The silvery guard of the spiders as 
they descend, and the beauty of their delicate abode, must be seen to be 
realized, and they form delightful additions to the fresh water aquarium. 















NATURAL HISTORY. 


143 


White Ants. —These insects live in societies, each of which consists of 
a countless number of individuals, the large majority of which are wingless. 
Two individuals only in each society, a male and a female, or, according to 
some, a king and a queen, are winged, and these alone in the entire society 
are specimens of the perfect insect. The king and queen are privileged in¬ 
dividuals, surrounded with all the respect and consideration, and receiving 
all the attendance and honors, due to sovereigns. Exempted from all par¬ 
ticipation in the common industry of the society, they are wholly devoted to 
increase and multiplication. They are distinguished from the inferior mem¬ 
bers of the society by the possession of organs of vision in the form of large 
and prominent eyes, their subjects being all of them blind. 

These latter are divided into two classes, the workers and the soldiers. 
The workers are by far the most numerous members of the society, being 
about a hundred times greater in number than the soldiers. Their bodies 
also are smaller than those of the soldiers, the latter being again smaller 
than those of the sovereigns. The entire industrial business of the society 
is performed by the workers. They erect the common habitation and keep 
it in repair. They forage and collect provisions for the society. They at¬ 
tend upon the sovereigns, and carry away the eggs of the queen, as fast as 
she deposits them, to chambers which they previously prepare for them. 
They keep these chambers in order, and ■when the eggs are hatched they 
perform the part of nurses to the young, feeding them and waiting upon 
them until they have attained sufficient growth to wait upon themselves. 
The soldiers are distinguished by their long and large heads, armed with 
long pointed mandibles. Their duty, as their title implies, is confined to 
the defence of the society and of their common habitation when attacked by 
enemies. 

A visitor to the tropics unacquainted with the architectural skill of these 
small builders must pause in wonderment before the habitations which they 
erect. The insect itself is scarcely a quarter of an inch in length, and yet 
in the space of three or four years they manage to build a home for them¬ 
selves that is twelve feet in height. These wonderful structures are shaped 
like a sugar-loaf or cone, and when first erected consist of naked clay, but, 
in the fertile climate where the white ant lives, the seeds of herbage trans¬ 
ported by the wind are soon deposited upon them, and they are speedily 
covered with the same vegetation as the surrounding soil, and when in the 
dry and warm season this vegetation is scorched they assume the appear¬ 
ance of vast hay-cocks. The interior of these mounds themselves are of 
most curious and complicated structure, consisting of a variety of chambers 
and corridors formed with the most consummate art, and adapted in shape 
and size to the respective purposes to which they are assigned in the general 
economy of the colony. 

The royal chamber appropriated to the sovereigns engrosses much of the 
attention and skill of their industrious subjects. It is generally placed 
about the center of the base of the mound, at the level of the surrounding 
ground. It has the shape that architects call a surmounted dome, and its 
magnitude is proportioned to that of the king and queen to whom it is 
appropriated. Its floor is perfectly level, and formed of clay about an inch 
thick. The roof is a solid, well-turned arch, increasing in thickness from a 
quarter of an ioch at the sides, where it rests upon the floor, 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUS¬ 
TOMS, ETC. 


China and the Chinese.— Among the higher classes in China the 
married lady rises early, and first sees that tea is prepared for her husband, 
as well as some hot water for his morning bath. The same attention is also 
exacted by the mother-in-law; indeed, during the life of the latter, the wife has 



CHINESE LADIES. 


to be a very drudge in the house. In the morning the ladies fly about dressed 
en deshabille , and shout out their orders to the domestic slaves. In short, a 
general uproar prevails in many Chinese households, until everything for 
the elaborate toilet has been procured. Each lady has generally one or two 
maids, besides a slave girl who waits on these maids, and trims her mistress’s 
pipe. The dressing of the lady’s hair occupies her attendants from one to 
two hours. Then a white paste is applied to her face and neck, a rose pow¬ 
der to the cheeks and eyelids, and a red dye to the finger nails; and finally 
the lady is dressed for the day. Many Chinese ladies spend a great portion 
of their time in gossiping, smoking, and gambling. The last named, it is to 
be regretted, is the most favorite pastime, but it is the men who set them 
the example. They never dream of playing except for money; and when 
they have no visitors of their own rank to gamble with they call in the do¬ 
mestics and play with them. Numbers of ladies pass a portion of their tint® 






145 



TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 

in embroidering shoes, purses, handkerchiefs, and such things; while before 
marriage nearly all their days are occupied in preparations for the dreary 
event of wedding one whom they have never seen and for whom they do not 
care. Some women occasionally hire educated widows in needy circum- 


A CHINESE BBIDE. 

stances to read novels or plays to them. Women capable of reading in this 
way can make a comfortable living, as there are so very few of the female 
sex who can read. The women of the poorer classes have no education, and 
can bo considered but little better than beasts of burden. A man ot that 
rank will walk deliberately by his wife’s side, while she totters under a 
heavy load; and frequently may she be seen yoked to a. plow, while her 
husband, guides it. Those of the lower classes who are good looking, ao- 





146 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

cording to the Chinese ideas of beauty, are purchased by the rich at about 
twelve or fourteen years, for concubines, and are then instructed according 
to their master’s ideas. The preliminaries, formalities, ceremonies and 
superstitions connected with marriage in China, would, if given in full, al¬ 
most fill a volume. Previous to the wedding day the bride has her eye¬ 
brows pulled out, so that she is recognized ever afterward as a married 


A CHINESE BABY IN ITS WINTER CRADLE. 

woman. On the morning of the “ lucky day ” chosen for the marriage, she 
is carried from her home to that of her future husband in a beautiful and 
highly ornamented bridal chair. The religious part of the ceremony consists 
in the bride and groom’s worshiping together the spirit tablets of the ances¬ 
tors of the groom. The parties first see each other’s faces when, seated by 
the bridal bed, the bride’s veil is removed, and the two parties drink wine 
out of the same cup. The wedding festivities generally last at least tw r o 
days. The first day the male friends and relatives of the groom are invited 

































TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC . 147 

to “ shed their light ” on the occasion. On the second day the female friends 
and relatives of the family of the groom are invited to the wedding feast. 
This is often called the “ women’s day.” Not long after the family and 
guests have breakfasted on the morning of the second day, the newly mar¬ 
ried couple, amid the noise of fire-crackers, then come out of their room to¬ 
gether for the purpose of again worshiping the ancestral tablets belonging 
to the household, the grandparents and parents of the groom. This custom 
is known by the name of “ coming out of the room.” Not long subsequent 
to this ceremony the people proceed to the kitchen for the purpose of wor- 



BEATING ON A TEMPLE DKUM. 

shipiDg the god and goddess of the kitchen. This is performed with great 
decorum, and is regarded as an important and essential part of marriage 
solemnities. It is believed that thus they will propitiate their good will, 
and especially that the bride, in attempting culinary operations, will suc¬ 
ceed better in consequence of paying early and respectful attention to these 
divinities. This is an illustration of how idolatry is inwrought into the social 
and domestic life of the Chinese people. 

When a baby boy is born in China friends and neighbors come together 
to rejoice, and throughout his tender years he is cared for most zealously. 
Many ingenious contrivances for the promotion of his health and comfort are 
procured, as witness the winter cradle shown in our illustration; but there 
is no gladness in a Chinese family at the birth of a little girl. Parents think 


:.ii i'l Hi 
































































148 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNO WLED G E. 


it a great disgrace to have only daughters in their family, and they fear the 
gods must be very angry to send them such a misfortune. And though it is 
almost too sad to believe, the little baby-girls are sometimes put to death 
by their own parents, who do not want the trouble of bringing them up. A 
Chinese girl is seldom taught to do anything but to use her hands, to cook, 
weave, do embroidery, etc. She is taken away when quite a child from her 
own father and mother to be mart'ied , and then, unless she belongs to the 
poorer classes, she is seldom seen outside the house of her mother-m-law. 
Indeed you will not wonder at this if you remember their strange custom of 
cramping the feet of women to make them small. The mother begins to 
bind the foot when the little daughter is only two years old, and the ban¬ 
dages are worn for years, though some children die of the cruel pain. At 
last the poor foot loses all feeling, but it is crippled and almost useless. 
The small-footed girl cannot walk any distance without the help of a stick, 
and her hobble must indeed be painful to see. Yet the Chinese admire the 
walk of small-footed ladies, and say it is like “ the waving of willow boughs 
in a breeze.” 

The Chinese are so superstitious as to believe that the gods need very much 
the same things which we do, and are pleased with the things which give 
us pleasure; and so, in their folly, they try to send them money, clothing, 
furniture and houses. The wealthy send, in addition, summer-houses, sedan 
chairs, pleasure boats, etc. They do this by making paper or wooden repre¬ 
sentations of such things, and burning them in front of the idol or temple, 
they believing that they are severally changed into the real articles in the 
world of spirits for the use of the gods. Nearly all heathen people accom¬ 
pany their prayers to false gods with beating on some loud-sounding instru¬ 
ment. They seem to have the same idea concerning their gods as Elijah 
taunted the prophets of Baal with holding, namely, that Baal might be asleep 
and needed to be awakened by noise, or that he might be on a journey and 
need to be stopped in the same way. Before a Chinese worshiper enters a 
temple he gives a pull on the bell-rope to inform the god that he has come 
to worship, and to ask him to please give attention; and in all Buddhist 
countries while priests and people are engaged in worship, drums are beaten 
for the purpose of holding the attention of the gods. Sometimes these drums 
are within and at other times without the temple, and at other temples’they 
are both within and without. The engraving we give shows the kind of 
drum used in Northern China, Thibet and Mongolia. Gongs and other loud- 
sounding instruments are also sometimes used in addition tu the drums. 

The prisons in China are in a much more revolting state than those in 
Europe were before John Howard began his labors for their improvement, 
and the prisoners who are not rich, or who have not rich friends willing to 
bribe the jailers, are given but a small amount of coarse food, and have to 
endure exceedingly cruel treatment. Comparatively few criminals, how¬ 
ever, are imprisoned after conviction. Several crimes are punished with 
immediate decapitation, or strangulation, and others with tortures and flag¬ 
ellations. One method of punishment is that represented in the picture. 
The criminal is fastened in a crouching posture in what looks something 
like a cask, but with his hands and head outside, and this painful position 
he has to maintain day and night. In the illustration the wife of the criminal 
is represented as feeding him with rice by means of the Chinese chop-sticks. 
Other punishments are beating the cheeks with a leather instrument; squeez¬ 
ing the fingers; beating the person with a bamboo, or wooden stick; squeez¬ 
ing the ankles; standing on tip-toe in cages made of wooden slabs; wearing 


149 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 

a very tiglit-fitting shirt of iron wire, through which the skin and flesh pro¬ 
trude; and many others similar to those which were used in the Eoman 
Catholic Inquisition. 

Mandarins and other wealthy persons in China have extensive pleasure 
grounds connected with their residences in which are erected pavilions, 
or, as we would call them, summer-houses. We give an illustration of one 
of’those found in the grounds of the Emperor’s Summer Palace, near Pekin. 

Canton is one of the finest Chinese cities. Its narrow streets are filled 
with a stream of men and women as unceasing as the stream that flows over 



A CHINESE MODE OF PUNISHMENT. 

London Bridge daily. As you pass along the streets in a chair, it is one 
continual fight for passage room; and the various comsions that occur pr - 
yoke groans on both sides from the chair-bearers and carriers of goods. 
Now a great basket of greens bumps against the sides, and now a pig en¬ 
closed in a basket is brought up against the chair, to the mutual alarm o f 
pig and passenger. Presently another chair comes down 1 r ° b PP °Tten ‘ 

rection and perhaps contains a portly mandarin in official garb. Then 
Seat shouting ensues on both sides, and a tangle, in which the mandarin 
makes the most of the opportunity to look at the foreign lady. Then the 
chairs extrteate^themselves, and on patter the bearers. The streets present 
a very curious appearance, being hung with long, colored signboards, which 
haveVe appearance of banners streaming. Among these, glinting out 






































150 CYCLOPEDIA OF VSEFT7L KNOWLEDGE. 

brightly in the sunlight, are gorgeous lanterns and colored lamps, so that 
the streets present a festive aspect even on ordinary occasions. The names 
of the streets are characteristic of Chinese inflation of style. One is called 
Street of Everlastiug Love; another, Street of Refreshing Breezes; another, 
Street of a Thousand Beatitudes; another, Street of a Thousand Grandsons. 
Trades of all kinds are practiced in the open streets. There are traveling 
blacksmiths, hatters, joiners, umbrella makers, tinkers, tinsmiths, cooks, 
confectioners, lapidaries, barbers, doctors, dentists, jewelers, clothiers, and 



A CHINESE PAVILION. 

cobblers. They all carry their shops about with them. If a customer wants 
his shoes mended, he will find his man at the first street, strike a bargain, 
take off his shoes, smoke the cobbler’s pipe and wait. A few steps farther 
on he may doff his coat, and hand it for repair to a street tailor. Should he 
be afflicted with toothache while he waits for his coat, he may have his tooth 
extracted by some traveling dentist. 

Nothing made Nanking so much celebrated abroad as the Porcelain Tower, 
which was one of the wonders of the world. It stood pre-eminent beyond 
all similar buildings for its completeness and elegance, and the quality of 
material of which it was built. It cost four millions of dollars, and was 





















151 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 


nineteen years in building, being completed in a. d. 1430. The outer face 
of this unique structure was covered with slabs of porcelain of various 
colors, principally green, red, yellow and white. At every one of its nine 
stories there was a projecting roof covered with green tiles; and a bell was 
suspended from each comer. There were one hundred and fifty-two bells 



PORCELAIN TOWER. 


in all, which gave sweet sounds when there was a brisk wind. One handred 
Tnd twenty-eight lamps were also hung on the outs.de. In the year 1801 .t 
was seriously injured by a storm. 

The Japanese —As might be imagined from the character* of: the gov¬ 
ernment woman plays no part in the history of Japan, though, allowing for 
Oriental usages, she is treated on the whole with tolerable leniency She 
neouoies a better position in the family, from not entailing any charge of 
hrmaiiagofls auricle rcceiyes no dowry, but, on the contrary, .s pre- 














152 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

sented by her husband with a handsome donation, which is invariably ap¬ 
propriated by her father. In Japan, therefore, it is considered more fortu¬ 
nate to have daughters than sons, as the former ultimately prove a very 
profitable investment. On the birth of a son, the event is commemorated 
by planting a tree, which, if the little stranger lives, is carefully tended to 
the day of his marriage, when it is cut down and furnishes material for a 
chest, designed expressly to hold the wardrobe of the newly-wedded couple. 


JAPANESE BRIDE AND ATTENDANTS. 

The marriage, as in China and Tartary, is an affair between the parents, and 
the wishes of the young people themselves are never consulted. The bride 
is usually in her fifteenth year; but maturity being early developed, wed¬ 
lock may be contracted at a still younger age, and the mother is often a 
child herself. Marriage is a religious ceremony, and is celebrated with 
great pomp and many forms, in a public temple, in presence of the priests 
and idols, and the friends and kindred of both parties. The priest blackens 
the pearly teeth of the bride, using for this purpose the same indelible lac¬ 
quer applied to coal-scuttles and other similar japan ware; and this serves, 





TRAVELS, MARKERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 153 

from that time to her death, to notify, like the wedding ring of Europe, that 
she has entered the marriage state. 

The husband has an absolute power over his wife; she is forbidden to 
interfere in anything whatever out of the house. “ It is a just rule, recog¬ 
nized in the whole world,” says the great legislator Yeyas, “ that a faithful 
husband manages out-of-door business, and a faithful wile minds her house¬ 
hold. When a woman thinks of outside affairs, her husband neglects his 
duties, and it forcibly leads to the ruin of the house. The hen must not 



A JAPANESE FAMILY. 


crow at dawn; it is a scourge, which every man jealous of his dignity and 
happiness should avoid.” The husband disposes of the entirety of his wife’s 
fortune; he can even sell her when hardly pressed by want; but it is right 
to add that he seldom takes advantage of this provision of the law for ex¬ 
treme cases. He can also repudiate her for a number of reasons. A di¬ 
vorced woman cannot take her children with her; but divorce is rare where 
there are children. She leaves the family of her husband, comes back to 
her own, and is allowed to marry again if she gets the chance, which is not 
frequently. Conjugal association, which in our societies has such a high 




















































































































































154 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


social importance, has but a very restricted one in Japan. There everything 
is expected from the woman, nothing from the man; for the former, mar¬ 
riage is a bond which death itself can scarcely sever; for the latter it is an 
association in which he will remain engaged only as long as he chooses. 

Among the first things that strike the traveler in Japan are the wooden 
sandals worn by these thirty-five millions of people. They have a separate 
compartment for the great toe, and make a clacking noise on the street. 
Straw slippers are also worn, and a traveler setting out on a journey will 
strap a supply of them on his back that he may put on a new pair when the 
old ones are worn out. They cost but a cent and a half a pair. They are 
never worn in the house, being left outside the door; passing down a street 
you see long rows of them at the doors, old and new, large and small. It 



A JAPANESE BED. 

is surprising to see how readily the Japs step out of them, and pick them up 
again with their feet, without stopping, when leaving the house. Constant 
habit makes them dexterous. 

The inside rooms of the houses are all of a certain size, so that the mats 
with which the floors are covered fit snugly. These mats are braided of rice 
straw, which is really the universal material of the Japanese, as the European 
art of making household furniture, such as beds, tables, chairs, divans, etc., 
is not yet developed. On these mats they take their meals; and family gath¬ 
erings, and in fact all visitors, find a soft and welcome spot. On one of these 
mats can be seen the “ shake down” bed, which is the universal couch of 
repose, with its hard bamboo pillow, than which nothing could certainly be 
more uncomfortable to people accustomed to the soft and downy pillow of 
civilization. 

The Japanese priests, and also of the Buddha religion, are recruited 
principally- from the higher classes, and a small portion from the higher 



































































155 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 

middle classes. Around each one there seems to be a distinct social clan. 
The Cinto priests live in small-built houses near the temple. They allow 
their wives to assist in their priestly duties. Much better, however, live the 



A JAPANESE TEMPLE. 

priests of the various branches of the Buddha religions. They have large 
revenues and live a luxurious life; therefore the least said of their morality 

thG A traveler thus describes the arrival at a Japanese hotel: The landlord 
comes to meet us, falling on his hands and knees, bows his head to the floor 
One or two of the pretty girls out of the bevy usually seen m the Japanese 
hotels come to assist « and take our traps. Welcomes, mutations, and 
plenty of fun greet us as we sit down to take off our shoes, as all good Japa 













































15fi CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


nese do, and as those filthy foreigners don’t, who tramp on the clean mala 
with their muddy boots. We stand up unshod, and are led by the laughing 
girls along the smooth corridors, across an arched bridge, which spans an 
open space in which is a rookery, garden, and pond stocked with gold-fish, 
turtles, and marine plants. The room which our fair guides choose for us 
is at the rear end of the house, overlooking the grand scenery for which 
Kanozan is justly noted all over the empire. Ninety-nine valleys are said 
to be visible from the mountain top on which the hotel is situated.” 

The Castes and Tribes of India —In India only four pure castes 
are recognized, the Brahmin or priests, the Kshatriyas, who are soldiers, the 
Yaisyas as husbandmen, and the Sudras as servants or laborers. Heeren 
supposed that the first three were a foreign race, who subdued the aborigines 
of the country, and reduced them to an inferior caste. These four classes con¬ 
stitute the elements of every so¬ 
ciety in an early period of civiliza¬ 
tion. Professor Wilson says that 
everything in the Hindoo insti¬ 
tutes indicates that the Brahmins 
originated not from political but 
religious principles. “Apparent¬ 
ly,” he says, “ the system was con¬ 
trived by a religious confederation 
as the scheme best adapted to in¬ 
troduce order among semi-civil¬ 
ized tribes, and with no view to 
their own advantage, or aggran¬ 
dizement or enjoyment of indolent 
ease. The authority of influence, 
of advice, the Brahmins necessa¬ 
rily retained, and they were the 
only competent expounders of the 
laws which they promulgated. 
They had no other means of pro¬ 
tection than the character of sanc¬ 
tity with which they invested themselves and which was equally necessary 
to insure attention to their instructions. They labored to deserve the opin¬ 
ion of sanctity by imposing burdensome duties on themselves of a domestic 
and religious character.” In the very rudest constitution of society the 
priest is to be found. In addition to the influence which he professes to have 
with good and evil spirits, he sometimes practices the medical art, and in 
various ways sustains his importance by superior cunning, working upon 
the superstition, ignorance, and fears of man in his most abject condition. 
Nowhere has the influence of a priesthood been so paramount and extensive 
as in Hindostan. It is remarkable that the Brahmins never invested them¬ 
selves with royal authority. The laws of Menu direct that “ To one learned 
Brahmin, distinguished among the rest, let the king impart his momentous 
counsel.” As the sole interpreters of the laws, they in reality possessed the 
judicial powers of government as well as those of a legislative character. 
The code was already perfect and complete, as coming from the Divine 
Being, and in no case could it be interpreted except in the sense the Brah¬ 
mins were pleased to impose. The king was little more than a servant of 
the Brahmins. In order to have an adequate idea of the superiority of the 





157 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 

ancient Brahmin, we must refer to the laws of Menu, which were probably 
promulgated three thousand years ago. While the Sudra, the lowest of the 
four castes, was represented as proceeding from the foot of the Creator, the 
Brahmin came forth from his mouth. He is declared to be the lord of all 
the classes, and from his high birth alone is an object of veneration even to 
deities, and it is through him, and at his intercession, that blessmgs are be¬ 
stowed upon mankind. “ When a Brahmin springs to light, he is born above 
the world, the chief of all creatures,” the first duty of civil magistrates is to 



honor the Brahmins. “ Whatever exists in the universe is all in effect, though 
not in form, the wealth of the Brahmin, since the Brahmin is entitled to it all 
by his primogeniture and eminence of birth.” The sacred books are exclu¬ 
sively his; and while the other classes are scarcely permitted to read them, 
he is appointed their sole expounder. For offering to give instruction to 
Brahmins, hot oil must be poured into the offender’s mouth and ears, and 
for contumelious language the punishment is almost as severe. Mysterious 
powers were assigned to them. “ A priest who well knows the law, need 
not complain to the king of any grievous injury, since, even by his own 
power, he may chastise those who injure him; his own power is mightier 








































































358 GYGLOFjEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


than the royal power.” Again, it is said, “ Let not the king provoke Brah¬ 
mins to anger, for they once enraged, could immediately destroy him,” and 
it is asked, “ What man desirous of life, would injure those by the aid of 
whom worlds and gods perpetually subsist, those who are rich in the knowl¬ 
edge of the Veda ? ” Extraordinary respect must be paid to the most humble 
Brahmin. “ A Brahmin whether learned or ignorant is a powerful divinity.” 
To confer gifts upon Brahmins was an essential religious duty. These gifts 
were a necessary part of expiation and sacrifice. The Hindoo ritual, as 



Mr. .Hill remarks, extended to almost every hour of the day and every 
function of nature and society, and consequently, those who were the sole 
judges and directors of its complicated and endless duties could not but be 
possessed of an enormous influence on the mental character of the people. 

The Bheels are the original inhabitants of* the western part of India; at 
some remote period, beyond the reach of historical records, they were 
driven from the plains, and now inhabit the wild tract of country which 
separates Malwah from Nemaur and Guzerat. While the history of the 











TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC . 159 

Bheels naturally excites curiosity, tlieir dispersion over rugged tracts of 
country, and their ignorance and prejudices, are obstacles to intercourse; 
and little is known concerning their habits, customs and forms of worship* 
except that they are different from those of other races of India. The word 
“ Bheel,” which signifies a robber or plunderer, is applied generally to the 
people who dwell in the mountains of Central India, and amid the thickets 
on the banks of rivers; but used comprehensively in this manner, it includes 
many who are not real Bheels, though they have adopted their predatory 
habits. Sir John Malcolm divides the Bheels into three classes—those who 
live in villages, the agricultural Bheels, and the wild Bheels of the hills. 
“ The first,” he says, “ consist of a few who from ancient residence or chance 
have become inhabitants of villages on the plain (though near the hills), of 
which they are the watchmen, and are incorporated as a portion of the com¬ 
munity. The cultivating Bheels are those who have continued in their 


THE HAHKATTAS OF INDIA. 


peaceable occupations after their leaders were destroyed or driven by in¬ 
vaders to become desperate freebooters; and the wild or mountain Bheel 
comprises all that part of the tribe, who, preferring savage freedom or 
indolence to submission and industry, have continued to subsist by plunder. 
The wild Bheel are a diminutive, ill fed, wretched looking people, though 
they are active and capable of great fatigue. The village Bheels are faith¬ 
ful and honest, and those who live by cultivation are industrious, but rude 
in their manners, easily assimilating to their wilder brethren. The rude 
religion of the Bheels bears some resemblance to that of the Hindoos, but 
they excite horror of the latter by eating the flesh of the cow. Their cere¬ 
monies are chiefly propitiatory, consisting of offerings to the minor infernal 
deities of the Hindoo mythology. 

In tho latter half of the seventeenth century, in the reign of Aurungzobe, 
the last powerful and energetio monarch who ruled over the Mogul empire 








160 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


in Hindostan, there descended from the range of inaccessible hills which 
runs along the western coast of India fierce and wild bands of plunderers, 
whose devastating excursions spread dismay among the inhabitants of the 
neighboring plains. They were the Mahrattas. Aurungzebe died in 1707, 
when the Mogul dominion declined with frightful rapidity. The Mahrattas 
now extended their territories, their original country, though large, being 
wild and uncultivated. From robbers the Mahrattas became conquerors. 
Half the provinces of the empire were turned into Mahratta principalities. 
Freebooters sprung from low castes and accustomed to menial em¬ 
ployments became 
mighty rajahs. The 
Bouses, at the head of 
a band of plunderers, 
occupied the vast re¬ 
gion Berar. The Gui- 
cowar, which is, being 
interpreted, the 
Herdsman, founded 
that dynasty which 
still reigns inGuzerat. 
The House of Scindia 
and Holkar waxed 
great in Malwah. One 
adventurous captain 
made his nest on the 
impregnable rock of 
G o o t i; another be¬ 
came the lord of the 
thousand villages, 
which are scattered 
among the green rice 
fields of Tanj ore. The 
formidable confedera¬ 
tion of the Mahrattas 
was put an end to in 
1817, after a struggle 
maintained for many 
years against the 
British power in 
India. 

There is a class of 
Hindoo women whose 
A native musician of india. fame has extended far 

beyond their native 

land, and whom poets have depicted, not without exaggeration, as most 
refined and poetic beings. We allude to the Nautch girls, or Bayaderes, 
whose songs and dances are in great request throughout India, and are 
essential to the proper performance of certain religious rites. Men accom¬ 
pany the movements of the dancers with trumpets and cymbals, while other 
Bayaderes, who sit around in a circle, beat time with their hands, and sing 
a monotonous refrain. The effect of the dance is produced less by’the grace 
of the dancer than by her gay-colored garments and the profusion of 
jewelry with which she is literally loaded. Their costumes are always rich, 


























TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 161 

and arranged with a considerable degree of art. One of the most effective 
is composed of a jacket very low in the neck, trousers, and a long veil which 
floats about the entire body. 

The Banjara women are noted for their beauty; slender, with finely 
formed limbs, and a noble expression, each of their movements displays 
pride and grace. Their dress is a short jacket, and a long plaited robe. 



NATIVES OF BANJARA, INDIA. 


Over the pointed head-dress a cloth is thrown, which falls down the back, 
and envelopes the figure like a cloak. Their jewelry often represents the 
entire capital of their husbands. They wear rings in the nose and ears, 
rings and chains braided in their hair, and bands of shells, and red and 
blue ivory rings upon their arms. Upon their ankles they load heavy 
metallic rings hung with many little bells. These walking jewelers’ shops 






















162 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


present a truly picturesque appearance throned upon camels, their gar¬ 
ments flowing in graceful folds, and holding a child in their arms. The 
position of these women is far from happy. In their wanderings the care of 
the herds falls entirely upon them, the men contenting themselves with 
patrolling the camps, and protecting them against the attacks of robbers 
and wild animals. 

At the threshold of India, in the northwestern angle of the Himalayan 



WOMEN OF THE HIMALAYAS. 


mountain chain, lies the renowned province of Cashmere, surrounded by 
ranges of snow-clad mountains, some of which are the loftiest known. Its 
deep secluded valleys are carpeted with the richest flowers and the most 
luxurious vegetation. Waterfalls dash in musical cadence from the cliffs, 
and numerous lakes reflect and multiply the magnificent landscapes which 
surround them on every side. The people who inhabit this paradise are 















TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 163 

usually handsome, with faultless physical proportions. Their rather 
prominent noses scarcely detract from the glorious beauty of their spark¬ 
ling eyes. The women, however, are fickle and crafty, and the keen 
tongue of a Cashmere beauty is as much dreaded as her caprice. 

The magnificence of the Taje Mahal and the “City of Palaces,” Calcutta, 
lead us to a somewhat exaggerated idea of the splendor of India and its 
advancement in tho scale of civilization. Many think it has risen out of its 
legends and superstitions since ruled by the British crown, and so fail to 
consider that it is still, to a large extent, governed by its native chiefs, and 
consequently retains most of its old customs and strange laws of caste and 
peculiar religious rites. One of these idolatrous rites is represented in our 



SUTTEE WORSHIP, INDIA. 


illustration of Suttee worship, which is preceded one month by noisy festivi¬ 
ties, and as the day of the sacrifice approaches, the offering is decked with 
flowers and a weird dance is held around her, after which the offering to 
this feast is bound to the holy stake. The priests then recite the ritual 
forms, informing their gods that upon the next day the sacrifice will be 
made, and a human life will go out from the dark heathenism of India with 
its beautiful Yale of Cashmere. 

Our next illustration, primitive as it may appear, represents a better 
civilization. Although English coaches and Hansom cabs have been intro¬ 
duced into the larger cities, yet when one arrives in what we call the coun¬ 
try towns, there is found the zebu carriage in all its glory, drawn by animals 
representing a cross between an ox and deer, with fatty protuberances on its 








164 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 



ZEBU CARRIAGE, INDIA. 


shoulders. The carriage resembles a dog or village cart, and possesses a 
canopy to protect the occupant from the rays of the Indian sun. The driver, 
seated almost on the bovines’ haunches, shouts vigorously from time to 
time at the animals, with little result as to speed. 

The natives of Scinde, India, dwelling on the shores of the Indus, have a 
very primitive and original method of taking the fish necessary for their 



5I0DE OF FISHING JN INDIA- 









































THAVELS MAE EE RS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 165 

subsistence. The fisherman launches into the water a large and very light 
earthen vessel, and lying face downward upon it, commends himself to the 
mercy of Allah and pushes off from the shore. Impelling his singular 
bark forward with his feet and hands, he skims over the water, as our 
engraving on preceding page represents. He holds in his right hand 
a pitchfork about fifteen feet long, to which is attached a large net, 
which he closes immediately the fish is taken, and transfers the fish to 
his vessel. Floating with confidence over the water, the fisherman pro- 



SENEGAMBIA FULAHS. 


ceeds several miles from the shore, suffering himself to be carried forward 
by the current on account of the puia, a fish in much esteem, always swim¬ 
ming against the stream. Others content themselves with fishing for the 
puia with a net, standing on the shore. 

Life in Africa.—Senegambia is the name given to that portion of West¬ 
ern Africa which is watered by the two great rivers of Senegal and Gambia. 
The face of this large tract, which extends interiorward to the distance of 
six or seven hundred miles, is generally flat and monotonous. The princi- 















166 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

pal native tribes of Senegambia are the Jaloffs, the Mandingoes, and the 
Fulah. The Fulahs of Futa-Jallon differ very materially from the ordinary 
negro races, and can scarcely be classed in the same family. Their com¬ 
plexion is a brownish black, with hair soft and curly, foreheads good, lips 
thin. In stature they are of middle size, limbs delicate but well formed, 
and in gait graceful and independent. The Fulahs have a tradition that 
they are descended from Phut, the son of Ham. They are Mohammedans, 
and are zealous in proselyting the heathen tribes. 

The Sourigo, also natives of West Africa, are a warlike and savage race, 

and, unlike the Fu¬ 
lahs, their skin is 
extremely black, 
their lips thick and 
their countenance 
repulsive. They 
have frequently 
been known to attack 
and kill travelers 
from apparently no 
other motive than 
pure wantonness. 

Congo women are 
not better treated 
than women else¬ 
where in Africa. In¬ 
deed, it is said that 
one of the greatest 
marks of affection 
which a husband can 
bestow on his wife is 
a good horse-whip- 
ping, and that a 
Congo wife considers 
herself very badly 
used, and her rela- 
t i v e s remonstrate 
with her husband, if 
she does not receive 
the chastisement at 
regular intervals. A 
woman, however, 
may ascend the 
throne, and the reign of one named Shinga, who came to power in 1640, fills a 
considerable chapter in the unwritten annals of Equatorial Africa. Through 
the intrigues of Jesuit priests, to whose rites she would not submit, she 
was forced to fly the kingdom, after contending with her nephew in three 
pitched battles, which she lost. In 1646 she regained her kingdom after 
many vicissitudes of fortune. By this time she had got so accustomed to 
war that she cared for nothing else, and her life was spent in hostilities 
against her neighbors. Before she undertook any new enterprise she would 
sacrifice the handsomest man she could find. 

In nearly all parts of Africa the most rigid distinctions of caste are en¬ 
forced, When a native approaches his superior, he prostrates himself upoq 
















TRAVELS, MAKJLEHS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 16? 

the ground, burying his head in the earth, and durst not arise from this 
position until the greater man has passed. 

The Bakalaharis are a timid race, encountered by Dr. Livingstone in his 
expedition of South Eastern Africa. The constant dread of being attacked 
by savage tribes drives them to a distance from rivers or lakes. When they 
by chance discover a small pond they cover it up with sand. The women, 
when they are in need of water, place in a net which they carry on their 
backs twenty or thirty empty ostrich eggs, which serve as vases. They then 



CHIEF’S WIFE TRAVELING, CENTRAL AFRICA. 


attach to the end of a reed two feet long a tuft of herbage, winch is thrust 
into a hole in the moist ground, the surrounding space being closed tip by 
the moist earth. By applying their lips to the exposed end of the reed, t 
water is drawn into their mouths, and thence transferred by another reed to 

tlie Cameron’s g “ Across Africa” says that on the death of a Urua chief it is 
the custom “ to divert the course of a stream, and in its bed to c i n 

















168 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSEPtlL KNOWLEDGE* 


mous pit, the bottom of which is then covered with living women. At one 
end a woman is placed on her hands and knees, and upon her back the 
dead chief, covered with his beads and treasures, is seated, being supported 
on either side by one of his wives, while his second wife sits at his feet. 
The earth is then shoveled in on them, and all the women are buried alive, 
with the exception of the second wife. To her, custom is more merciful 
than to her companions, and grants her the privilege of being killed before 
the huge grave is filled in. This being completed, a number of male slaves 
—sometimes forty or fifty—are slaughtered, and their blood poured over the 
grave, after which the river is allowed to resume its course.” 

Upon the death of any man of position or wealth in Madagascar, on the 

day of the funeral 
the wife is placed in 
the house, dressed 
in all her best 
clothes, and covered 
with her silver orna¬ 
ments, of which the 
Sihanaka wear a 
considerable quan¬ 
tity. There she re¬ 
mains until the rest 
of the family return 
home from the tomb. 
But as soon as they 
enter the house they 
begin to revile her 
with the most abu¬ 
sive language—tell¬ 
ing her that it is her 
fault that her wini- 
anu, or fate, has been 
stronger than that 
of her husband, and 
that she is virtually 
the cause of his 
death. They then 
strip her of her 
clothes, tearing off 
with violence the or¬ 
naments from her 
neck, arms and ears. 

saluting a superior. They give her a 

coarse cloth, a spoon 

with a broken handle, and a dish with a foot broken off, from which to eat. 
Her hair is disheveled, and she is covered up with a coarse mat. Under 
that she remains lying all day, and can leave it only at night; and she may 
not speak to any one who goes into the house. She is not allowed to wash 
her face and hands, but only the tips of her fingers She endures all this 
sometimes for a year, or at least for eight months; and even when that is 
over the time of mourning is not ended for a considerable period, for she is 
not allowed to go home to her own relations until she has first been divorced 
by her husband’s family. 





















: TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 169 



Religious Customs in Palestine.— An English gentleman who has 
lately traveled in Palestine, recently gave a description of the curious scenes 
that are enacted in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. He said that when 
you first entered the church, you would be surprised to see a party of sol¬ 
diers, with their swords by their sides, and their guns stacked within reach. 
It seemed a sacrilege in such a holy place, and struck one rather unpleas¬ 
antly. But he soon found out the necessity for it. According to the law of 
the country, every sect is allowed to worship there; and as it is considered 
equally sacred both by Christians and Mohammedans, all wish a time for 
their mode of wor¬ 
ship. The law al¬ 
lows them an hour 
each. They com¬ 
mence at six in the 
morning. At that 
hour, thosewho have 
the first privilege 
enter, bringing with 
them whatever is 
necessary to conduct 
their particular re¬ 
ligious rites. They 
go through their 
prayers and chants, 
and all is very quiet 
till about a quarter 
to seven, when those 
who have the privi¬ 
lege of the next hour 
begin to arrive. At 
first, all is decorum; 
but presently the 
new comers begin to 
hiss and mock. As 
their numbers in¬ 
crease, and they be¬ 
come stronger, they 
get more and more 
bold. A few minutes 
before seven, they 
proceed to more for¬ 
cible demonstration. 

They think, if they can clear out these blasphemers a few minutes before 
the time, they have done so much good work for God; while the worshipers, 
on the other hand, think, if they can keep possession a few minutes after 
the time, they have done an equally good work. As some of these sects use 
torches, wax candles, staves or crooks, in their worship, they proceed to use 
these as weapons of offense or defense, and a regular melee ensues. Then 
come in the soldiers, who separate the combatants by filing in between them, 
turning out those whose hour is up, and leaving the place in possession of 
the last comers. If blood is shed the church is closed for the day. Such 
scenes are occurring all day long, and the presence of soldiers is therefore 
absolutely necessary. 


BAKALAHARI WOMEN FILLING WATER SKINS. 










170 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

The Arabs.—The passion of the Arab lover exhausts itself upon the 
maiden; it never extends to the wife. His wooing is most ardent, and all 
his war songs are intermingled with thoughts of his mistress; but the Arab 
woman’s married life is prosaic in the extreme—indeed she is little better 
than the slave of her husband. The Bedouin marriage ceremony is usually 
as follows: After the wooing, which is mostly done with a friend of the father 
of the intended bride, the time is fixed for the wedding feast, ordinarily five 
or six days after the betrothal. On the wedding night young men chosen for 
the purpose kindle a fire before the tent of the bride, around which they 



A FAMILY OF BEDOUINS. 

gather and discharge their muskets, at which the women set up their shrill 
“ Elmuta wahat” or song, each strophe of which is accompanied with a 
peculiar shout, the thrilling “ li-li-li-li” of the chorus ringing away over the 
steppes, inviting the occupants of the most distant tents to collect around 
the bridal-fire. Each takes up the shout, the desert resounds with the 
marching call, “ Is rw,” and men and women rush together, amid the deaf¬ 
ening din of yelp, and shriek, and the discharge of musketry. After a while 
the disorder ceases and is followed by songs. The older people sip their 
coffee and smoke, the younger members of the party dance, and the women 
keep up their ear-splitting “ Sagrula ” far into the night. Among many oi 
the Bedouin tribes, the bridegroom comes and snatches his bride and carries 
her away by force, either from her own tent or that of a neighbor, or, as 
with the Bedouins of Sinai, from the mountain where she has hidden her- 

























TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 171 


self. It is considered entirely correct for the bride to escape from her hus¬ 
band’s house if she can. 



Among the Arabs the dress for men and women differs but little, many 
garments being worn in common, varied only by the manner of putting them 
on. A tunic, coat or inner garment is usually made of two pieces of linen, 
sewed together at the sides, and it reaches to the knees. The abba, or or¬ 
dinary outer garment, is an oblong piece of woolen cloth, about five yards 
long by five feet wide. It can be wrapped around 'the body or worn over 
the shoulder like a shawl, with the ends of the “ skirt ” hanging down in 
front. A long tunic without sleeves is sometimes worn, as a third garment, 
between these two. Changes of garments constitute an important part of 
a man’s wealth. 

The wandering Arab tribes of the present day dwell in tents. If possi¬ 
ble, these are pitched 
near the shade of a tree. 

The larger tents are di¬ 
vided into three apart¬ 
ments, the inner of which 
is given to the women, 
and the outer to the ser¬ 
vants, with the young of 
the herds. An Arab camp 
is always circular in form 
and removed at a dis¬ 
tance from the central 
tent of the chief. 

The “ simoon,” or 
poison wind of Arabia, 
is a serious affair to the 
persons caught in it. The 
center of the column of 
wind is composed of a 
poisonous gas, to breathe 
which is death. Round 
this center there eddy 
violent gusts of heated 
and impregnated air, like that of a furnace. It approaches slowly amid 
the whirl of air currents that precede it for some distance. During its 
presence the only chance of preserving life is found in covering the face with 
a cloth and lying prone on the sand, inhaling what little pure air may be 
found next to the earth. Meanwhile, the feeling of the chest is that of suffo¬ 
cation, and that of the limbs as though moulten iron was being poured over 
them. Camels instinctively bury their nozzles in the sand; but horses do 
not possess the same preservatory instincts, and often perish in consequence. 


AKAB DBESS. 


Female Beauty.— The ladies of Arabia stain their fingers and toes 
red, their eyebrows black, and their lips blue. In Persia they paint a black 
streak around their eyes, and ornament their faces with various figures. 
The Japanese women gild their teeth, and those of the Indians paint them 
red. The pearl of the tooth must be dyed black to be beautiful in Guzerat. 
The Hottentot women paint the entire body in compartments of red and 
black. In Greenland the women color their faces with blue and yellow, and 
they frequently tattoo their bodies, by saturating threads in soot, inserting 






172 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


them beneath the skin, and then drawing them through. Hindod families, 
when they wish to appear particularly lovely, smear themselves with a mix¬ 
ture of saffron, tumeric and grease. In nearly all the islands of the Pacific 
and Indian Oceans, the women, as well as' the men, tattoo a great variety of 
figures on the face, lips, tongue and the whole body. In New Holland they 
cut themselves with shears, and keeping the wounds open a long time, form 
scars in the flesh, which they deem highly ornamental. Another singular 
mutilation is made by taking off, in infancy, the little finger of the left hand 
at the second joint. In ancient Persia, an aquiline nose was highly prized; but 
the Sumatran mother carefully flattens the nose of her daughter. By some 
of the savage tribes in Oregon, and also in Sumatra and Aracan, continual 
pressure is applied to the skull in order to flatten it, and thus give it new 
beauty. The modem Persians have a strong aversion to red hair. Turks, 
on the contrary, are warm admirers of it. In China, small round eyes are 



AN ARAB TENT. 


liked, and the girls are continually plucking their eyebrows, that they may 
be thin and long. But the great beauty of a Chinese lady is in her feet, 
which in her childhood are so compressed by bandages as effectually to pre¬ 
vent any further increase in size. The four smaller toes are bent under 
the foot, to the sole of which they firmly adhere; and the poor girl not only 
endures much pain, but becomes a cripple for life. Another mark of beauty 
consists in finger nails so long that casings and bamboo are necessary to 
preserve them from injui-y. An African beauty must have small eyes, 
thick lips, large flat nose, and a skin beautifully black. In New Guinea the 
nose is perforated, and a large piece of wood or bone inserted. In the north¬ 
west coast of America an incision more than two inches in length is made in 
the lower lip, and then filled with a wooden plug. In Guinea the lips are 
pierced with thorns, the heads being inside the mouth, and the points rest¬ 
ing on the chin. 

Turkish Life and Customs.— On entering within the gates of a 
Turkish house the scene forms a striking contrast with the dull, sombre ex- 






TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 173 

terior. An open court, often paved witli beautiful marble slabs, and always 
when the weather is fine, covered with matting, shelving terraces, and par¬ 
terres of flowers round parts of this court, and gaily-painted alcoves, gal¬ 
leries, pillai'S, and the hanging roofs of the apartments flanking the court in 
other parts. The ground floor is given up to the kitchen, offices, and the 
servants. The upper or grand apartment is divided into two. One of these 
divisions is occupied by the master of the house, and is open to all male 
servants and visitors; the other, called the harem—which word signifies a 
“ holy place 5 ’—is devoted to the women. The rooms of reception that open 
upon the great corridor are spacious, seldom very lofty, and always plain. 
The ceilings of the rooms, which are among the most ornamental portions of 
a Mussulman’s apartment, are exceedingly beautiful. Indeed, in many 



INTERIOR OF A TURKISH HOUSE. 

houses it seems as if all art and ornament were reserved to be lavished on 
the ceiling. It is formed of curiously tessellated wood-work, at times rep¬ 
resenting a mosaic in wood, dotted here and there with golden stars; at 
times painted in the arabesque style with green, blue, and gold, and in the 
most varied and complicated designs. 

Nothing impresses a stranger with the difference between Constantinople 
and even the smallest western town, more forcibly than the almost total ab¬ 
sence of carriages, and the contrast between those that are seen and any 
that have ever been met before. The native coach is resplendent with yel¬ 
low, and the canopy decked with numberless red tassels, which are re¬ 
peated with the addition of bells on the harness of the mule, and a more 
thoroughly uncomfortable machine in which to go a pleasuring than a telekah 
can hardly exist. The narrowness of the road obliges one carriage to come 
to a standstill while another passes; this enables one to see the veiled ladies 
seated, of course, a la Turque. It is a rare picture that wo view from our 











































174 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


window; it consists of a large square full of fountains, grass plots, flower¬ 
beds, gilded cages, vases filled with roses and clinging vines, hanging- 
baskets that shine like gold, while here and there servants or guests, in 
picturesque garments, move about with languid, indolent grace. There is 
an old grandfather Turk standing under the doorway; his servant spreads 
a beautiful mat at his feet, and brings him an Oriental pipe. His head has 
long silver-white locks, and such a beard! It positively etherealizes smok¬ 
ing to see it enjoyed in that manner. If you want to succeed among Orien¬ 
tals, you must never show yourself to be in a hurry. Lemonade, sweet¬ 
meats, coffee, and pipes are served with great formality on the streets, and 



LIFE IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 


at all hours can be seen the native smoking accompanied by no end of dogs, 
which are more numerous in the streets of Constantinople than the sands of 
Egypt. 

In a Turkish house the men and women do not take their meals together, 
do not sit around a table, and can hardly be said to feed decently. It is 
quite possible for men and women who do not know the use of a fork to be 
very clean about their food, but the use of a fork is a great step toward 
cleanliness in eating. A Turk holding a considerable position in the State 
will take a handful of boiled rice from the common dish, and after having 
squeezed all the water out by working it well in his hands, will put the lump 




























TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 175 

into the mouth of a guest as a mark of peculiar favor. There is a slovenli¬ 
ness about Turks at their meals which is probably due to the fact that men 
and women do not take their meals together. The object of the meal is 
solely to eat. 

Turkish women have oval faces, clear ohve skins, languishing dark eyes, 
and beautiful hands, soft as velvet and white as snow—beyond this, noth¬ 
ing. They lack the natural grace and pretty coquetry of Levantine belles, 
the firm tread, elegant manners and becoming modesty of European women. 
Their figures are clumsy, their features somewhat harsh, their lips full and 
often thick; they walk with a roll (their legs being bowed), and even their 
natural attractions depend more or less upon artificial aid. They thickly 
powder their faces, blacken their brows, and dye their eyelids and lashes, 
so that when half veiled by the yashmak screen they are certainly striking 
and present a dazzling effect; but under other circumstances most of them 
would pass unobserved. Many of the children are beautiful, with round, 
rosy, plump faces and golden brown hair; their dress is, however, frightful 
and ridiculous; they wear wide pantaloons and long skirts of some out¬ 
rageous color (often yellow), badly-fitting shoes and a smartly-colored cap 
perched on the tops of their heads. 

A Turkish wedding is thus described: “ The bride was dressed in white silk, 
brocaded with silver and peai’ls, and around her waist was a belt containing 
a fortune in precious stones. Her cheeks were painted a deep crimson, laid 
on in a heart shape, and another heart was painted on the chin, the rest of 
the ’face white as luminous cosmetic could make it. The eyebrows were 
painted intensely black; they met, and were stretched to the temples. Her 
fiDgers were dyed deep crimson, and her long, black hair was braided full 
of little jingling coins. Her little feet were shod in velvet slippers, em¬ 
broidered with pearls, and she wore great diamond earrings. After drink¬ 
ing coffee—which the writer would fain immortalize, it was so very precious 
—and gulping down some rare Turkish bonbons, mixed with paste and 
paregoric, they inspected the trousseau of the bride. The chief priest who 
performed the ceremony was blazing with jewels, and wore a costly mitre. 
He kept the poor little bride waiting three whole hours while he was at¬ 
tending another wedding, but the people seemed to bear the delay with 
patience. The bride was rather under the ordinary height, and the bride¬ 
groom a very tall man, and they were obliged to stand with their foreheads 
touching each other during the entire ceremony, which took a whole hour. 
After the ceremony the bride was placed on a high chair, and the bridegroom 
came forward with a richly-trimmed cushion bearing the bridal presents— 
a watch and chain, a diamond brooch, earrings, necklace and bracelets, and 
a large knitted purse filled with gold. The bridegroom parted the great 
veil which hung over the new wife, and adorned her with the jewels. Then 
she was lifted by men and seated astride a small barrel of wine, and the 
feast commenced. She was obliged to sit there till all the wine was drank 
out of the barrel, which was nearly two hours. She looked tired enough, 
and it was daylight before the feast was ended and the bride borne away.” 

The marriage of princesses, on whose expenses, as the Hatti Hamayoun 
of 1858 stated, no saving could be effected, deserves special notice. If one 
of the sultan’s daughters has attained the age at which Turkish girls are 
generally married, the father seeks a husband for her among the nobles at 
his court. If a young man specially pleases her, he is given the rank of 
lieutenant-general, nothing lower being ever selected. The chosen man 
receives, in addition, a magnificent fully-furnished palace, and sixty thou- 


176 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

sand piastres a month, pocket money; and, in addition, his father-in-law 
defrays all the house-keeping expenses. The bridegroom is not always oyer 
and above pleased at being selected. If he be married, he is obliged to get 
a divorce—he must never have a wife or mistress in addition to the princess; 
and, moreover, he is regarded as the servant rather than the husband of 
his wife. The sultan himself announces to him his impending good fortune, 
and it is his bounden duty to bow reverentially, kiss the sultan’s feet, and 
stammer a few words about the high honor, the unexpected happiness, etc. 
He then proceeds with a chamberlain, who bears the imperial Hatt to the 
sublime porte. A military band precedes him, and soldiers are drawn up 
along the road, who present arms. At the head of the stairs the bridegroom 
is received by the grand vizier, conducted by him into a room where all the 
ministers are assembled, and the Hatt is read aloud. This ceremony cor¬ 
responds to the betrothal. 

Mexican Life. —The Mexican country women, generally mixtures of 
very different grades of blood and nationality, differ widely from the pure 


Spanish creoles of the capi¬ 
tal. They are not without 
many attractive features; 
their eyes are often bril¬ 
liant and fiery, their hair 
glossy and abundant, but 
their noses are apt to be 
ugly, their mouths large, 
and their cheek bones too 
prominent. Their dress 
consists mostly of a light 
skirt of lively colors and a 
simple waist of white 
woolen. 



Yery little progress has 
been made in the method 
of farming in Mexico, 
many of the implements 
being crude and of a pat¬ 
tern in use centuries ago. 
As nearly all the cultiva- 


MEXICAN WOMEN. 


tion Is done by irrigation, crops are much more certain than in some 
districts of the United States. The plows used are wooden ones, like 
those used in ancient Egypt, made of a straight piece of mesquit tim¬ 
ber a yard long, pointed at one end and wedge-shaped at the bottom. On 
top of this is set, at an angle of, say 25 degrees, a long pole, which, going 
forward, is attached to a cross bar which is tied to the horns of the oxen; on 
the rear end a single upright stick serves for the handles by which the 
peon guides his plow. With this primitive instrument the husband¬ 
man plows a gutter about three inches deep and five inches broad at 
the top, and his work, excepting sowing and covering, is done. When the 
wheat is cut and housed and stacked (and this is done in April and May) it 
is spread upon an adobe floor, surrounded by a wall of adobe six feet high, 
and upon this are turned in a number of wild horses from the range. Young 
boys keep them running around until the grain is trodden out, and then the 
mass is thrown upon another floor on a level with the top of the wall. Here 












TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , JST<7. 177 

it is cast up with wooden paddles into the air, and the grain separated from 
the straw and chaff by the wind. 

Many interesting sights meet the eye in the City of Mexico, but none are 
more pleasing than that of the dancing girls, who are frequently seen in the 
paved courtyards, which are a distinguishing feature of the hotels and 
public buildings. The music provided is that of a sort of fife, and the man who 
plays it is wonderful to behold, in his foreign finery. An immense yellow 
sombrero shades his face. His hair hangs in long black ringlets over his 
blue embroidered jacket. Under his jacket a sash of brilliant red is tied, 
and hangs in heavy folds almost to his feet. He has red ribbons fastened 
about the tight yellow stockings, and his slippers have been red. Altogether 
he looks as if he might have stepped out of a picture by Yelasquez. But so 
do the maids, with their short dresses, bright aprons, sashes and head- 
gear, their laughing black 
eyes, their cheeks with the 
scarlet bloom, their braids 
of hair. 

The moral condition of 
the lower classes is fright¬ 
fully degraded. Insecurity 
of life and property, a 
chronic state of revolution, 
and gambling and drunken¬ 
ness have caused such a 
degeneration of the masses, 
that an American writer has 
recently declared, that the 
only hope of the regenera- 
t i o n and civilization o f 
Mexico, is in the absolute 
extinction of fully seven of 
her eight millions of inhabi¬ 
tants. Among the higher 
classes the prospect is hard- dancing gibls of Mexico. 

ly more pleasing. Empty 

formalities, the haughtiness of the old Spanish Grandees, and a show of 
nobility are joined to intellectual insignificance, callousness of feeling, and a 
pride of race simply contemptible. 

A Country Without Women.—There is only one territory of any 
size, and never has been but one, occupied by any considerable population, 
from which woman is absolutely excluded. Yet, such a place exists to-day, 
and has existed for centuries. As far back as history reaches, to all females 
it has been forbidden ground. This bachelor’s Arcadia is situated on a bold 
plateau between the old peninsula of Acte, in the Grecian Archipelago, and 
the main land. Here, in the midst of cultivated fields and extensive wood¬ 
lands, dwells a monastic confederation of Greek Christians, with twenty- 
three convents, and numbering more than seven thousand souls, and not one 
of the monasteries dates from a later time than the twelfth century. A 
few soldiers guard the borders of this anti-female land, and no woman is 
allowed to cross the frontier. Nor is this all; the rule is extended to every 
female creature, and from time immemorial no cow, mare, hen, duck or 
goose has been permitted to make acquaintance with this territory. 



















178 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

South America.— The land of the loftiest mountains, largest rivers, 
greatest number of volcanoes, most extensive plains, richest mines of 
precious metals and sublimest natural scenery on the globe is also noted tor 
the greatest diversity in native life, composed of whites, Indians, negroes 
and mixed races; their habits and occupations are as varied as their shades 
of color and localities. In New Granada and Ecuador we find rope bridges 
and silleros carrving travelers in chairs on their backs; in Peru we see great 
cavernous silver mines; in Bolivia we view long trains of mules and llamas 
carrying produce over the mountains; in Buenos Ayres and Paraguay exist 
those vast grassy plains or pampas, a thousand miles in extent, without a 
tree, on which millions of horses and cattle feed, and where the Gauchos or 
whito inhabitants live in the saddle and chase the cattle with lassos for 
their agreeable occupation. As we go farther south civilization recedes, 



NATIVES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 


until in Patagonia and Terra del Fuego it lapses into barbarism. Among 
the huge savages of Patagonia, who are the most gigantic men on the earth, 
there are some tribes who possess cannibals, while others enjoy in their 
peculiar life the blessings of a plurality of wives. 

One of our illustrations represents a Patagonian with his wives preparing 
a meal, which though very frugal, will be none the less relished. During 
the recent war between Chili and Peru some of these tribes, considering 
that they owed more allegiance to Chili than to the other belligerent, offered 
their services, but owing to their savage mode of warfare the Chilian gov¬ 
ernment declined to accept, fearing that once on the battlefield they could 
not be controlled. 

Our next scene represents a pleasanter phase of life and pleasure; a fair 
fruit dealer of Bio de Janeiro surrounded by her trays and baskets of 
tropical fruits. And what do the other fair sisters of Buenos Ayres do? you 















TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 179 

may ask. One glance through the latticed balconies shows well how they 
spend their time: lounging in their hammocks as if moulded to them, the 
languid and indolent senorita lies enjoying her siesta, or awake puffing the 
thin blue curling smoke from her cigarette and thinking of her conquest at 
the last fiesta. Even our contented looking fruit dealer finds time and 
means to enjoy her cigarette, as free from care apparently as the haughty 
dame who swings in her hammock. 

Our next illustration represents primitive life on the coast of Ecuador, 
where even in Guayaquil, the principal harbor, one sees the curiously built 
bamboo houses with straw thatched roof, which abound in that sandy coun- 


FKTTIT DEALER OF RIO DE JANEIRO. 

try. Thus we see that even yet many of the natives of South America are 
scarcely in advance of Africa in civilization. 

Modest young men might find the mode of salutation employed by the 
fair senoritas of Peru somewhat disconcerting, though not unpleasant. The 
mistress of the house enters the reception-room smoking a cigarette, wear¬ 
ing a black silk skirt and a red or blue sacque, and with her magnificent 
hair braided down her back in two plaits that almost sweep the floor. Ad¬ 
vancing to you she removes her cigar, spits upon the carpet, although it 
may be white velvet tapestry, and folds you in both arms to her matronly 
bosom, pushing vour head gently down upon her shoulder, and patting you 
softly on your back. This singular proceeding answers to our handshaking. 
All classes meet and embrace. Young men and old women, old men and 








180 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 



young ladies, and even children, all unite in this parting embrace, and 
rarely kiss. If the daughters delay coming into the room, the mother opens 
the piano and plays you some national dances, sad, yet brilliant, in a plain¬ 
tive minor key. Or she claps her hands, and a native brings in a bottle of 
wine and fruits of various kinds, and you are expected to partake, if ever so 
little. The daughters never keep you waiting long, if they are not at mass 
or shopping; and, if at home, never excuse themselves. They wear white 
wrappers, trimmed simply with native lace, and the heavy braids of hair like 
the mother’s. Conversing with them, you soon ascertain the extent of their 
acquirements—a little French and knowledge of the geography and history 

of Peru. They sel¬ 
dom know more than 
to read and write 
Spanish, and know 
nothing e 1 s # e , and 
care to know nothing 
else, but about Peru. 
They can all sing and 
dance, and are very 
charming in appear¬ 
ance; but you can see 
that they are illit¬ 
erate and ignorant; 
that though the dia¬ 
monds glisten upon 
small, perfectly- 
formed, brown 
hands, the hands are 
not only dingy, but 
dirty; that the nails 
are not clean; and 
that the tiny feet, 
peeping from the 
trailing white wrap¬ 
per, often has either 
no stocking or a very 
dirty one, and almost 
always the slippers 
are torn and slip¬ 
shod. 

A French naval 

house on the coast of ecuadob, south America, surgeon h a s lately 

been exploring the 

northern parts of South America, more especially in the valley of the 
Oronoco and its affluents. Among other facts of observation, he states that 
the Guaraunos, at the delta of that river, take refuge in the trees when the 
delta is inundated. There they make a sort of dwelling with branches and 
clay. The women light on a small piece of floor the fire needed for cook¬ 
ing, and the traveler on the river by night often sees with surprise long rows 
of flames at a considerable height in the air. The Guaraunos dispose of 
their dead by hanging them in hammocks in the tops of trees. In the course 
of his travels, he met with earth-eating tribes. The clay, which often serves 
for their food whole months, seems to be a mixture of oxide of iron and some 

















TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 181 

organic substances. They have recourse to it more especially in times of 
scarcity; but, strange to say, there are eager gourmands for the substance, 
individuals in whom the depraved taste is so pronounced that they may be 
seen tearing pieces of ferruginous clay from huts made of it, and putting 
them in their mouths. 

Shoshone Courtship.— Courtship among the Shoshone tribe of Indi¬ 
ans is not so elaborate an affair as among more civilized people. In the 
first place it should be borne in mind that the young squaws are more fleet 
of foot than the bucks. Now, when a buck fancies a squaw, he provides 
himself with a lariat, as he would if he intended to lasso an animal. When 



A PIUTE LODGE. 


she sees her admirer approaching she behaves, after her fashion, in the 
manner of other young ladies. She runs, and the buck runs after her. If 
she does not wish to be caught she quickens her pace, and is soon beyond 
the reach of the rope; if, on the contrary, she does not object, the noose 
slips easily over her head, and the prize is won. 

The Piute Indians of Nevada.— There are between four and five 
thousand Indians in Nevada, consisting of Shoshones and Piutes, the former 
occupying the eastern and central parts of the State, and the latter the 
western. The Piutes are a branch of the Shoshone tribe, and formerly both 
were governed by one great chief. The Piutes are not hostile to the whites, 
although in times past there have been fierce battles between them, the 






182 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


last one taking place at Pyramid Lake. The Piutes were formerly a wild, 
strong, brave people, so tamous as travelers that it is believed they origi¬ 
nally came from Peru, while they now idle about the outskirts of white set¬ 
tlements. The name Piute was derived from their settlement near the lakes 
of the Sierra Nevadas, and is properly Pah-Ute or Water-Ute. In the larger 
towns along the eastern slope of the Sierras, the Piutes are more than half 
civilized, and as far as possible imitate the fashion of the white in dress, the 
women wearing showy cotton gowns, and the men brilliantly-colored shirts, 
trousers and hats. The wigwams are set a few yards apart, and resemble 
dilapidated circular tents. As a stranger approaches, the red proprietor 
comes forward to meet him with a pleasant smile and at a lazv pace, greet- 



SOME PIUTE BEAUX. 


ing him with the usual “ How ? ” which is the Indian abbreviation of “ How 
do you do ? ” We illustrate a lodge of the Piutes, and likewise a number of 
lovers sitting upon a log awaiting the arrival of their sweethearts. This is 
characteristic of the courtship of the Piutes. 

The Sun Dance of the Sioux —The dances of the Sioux Indians 
are all forms of worship, the three principal among them being the war, the 
medicine, and the great sun dance. When a young brave is anxious for dis¬ 
tinction in his tribe he attempts to signalize himself in the atrocities of the 
great sun dance. It lasts three days, commencing at sundown, and the par¬ 
ticipants fast during the entire period. It is intended to gain the favor of 
the Great Spirit who dwells in the sun, and as the sun rises on the com¬ 
mencement of the dance, the braves salute it in chorus with their knives 











183 


TEA VELS, MANNERS AND CVS TO MS, ETC. 



bare. Long ropes of raw hide are ready, dangling from a sapling, and, as 
the sun comes above the horizon, each Indian seizes a rope, puts two gashes 
an inch deep and about the same distance apart in his back or side, runs 
his knife through the flesh between them, and withdrawing it passes the 
raw hide rope through the wound and ties it, dancing and throwing his 
weight on the rope for hours at a time until the flesh is tom loose and he 
falls exhausted to the ground. If the flesh holds too long a friend will com© 
and give him a push. When he has fallen his comrades gather round him 
and say that he will 
be a great chief. 

The Egyptians. 

—The women of 
Egypt are not al¬ 
lowed to go out of 
doors as women in 
other countries are, 
and many of them 
never get beyond the 
the walls of their 
houses. The cows 
sleep in the same hut 
with the people. 

These huts are made 
of mud, without win¬ 
dows, and the doors 
so small that the 
wonder is how the 
people get in. They 
do not wash their ba¬ 
bies till they are a 
year old, because it is 
considered unlucky 
to do so. They rarely 
comb their hair from 
month to month. 

Their chief meal is 
at sunset; the rest of 
the time they eat at a 
piece of bread when 
they are hungry. 

They neveruse an Egyptian woman chtjbning. 

plates, or knives, or 

forks. All sit around the table on the floor. Bread is their daily food, and 
each family makes for itself, as it is a kind of disgrace to buy “ street 
bread.” The women clean the corn and carry it on their heads to mill. 
It is made into thin, small cakes, stuck against the sides of an oven, and 
baked in less than a minute. A hundred loaves are not too many for a family 
of four in a week. Travelers are usually expected to eat three loaves 
apiece. They make butter in a strange way. A goatskin half filled with 
milk is hung on a peg, and then a woman jerks it to and fro till the butter 
comes. Then she drains it, but never washes or salts it. Their favorite dish 
is rice cooked with this butter. 











184 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



In journeying from Egypt acrosa Arabia, water is commonly conveyed in 
goat skins. Ox hides are often converted into sacks. A pair of these is a 
camel’s load, and two answer for four persons as many days. The sakkiehs 
or wells used for irrigating the date-palm trees, consist of two wheels, the 
one set vertically to the river and slung with a chain of pots, the other a 

horizontal cog, 
turned by a cam¬ 
el or a buffalo. 

Siam.— After 
all that has been 
written about 
Siam and the Si¬ 
amese, there re¬ 
mains a great 
deal of valuable 
information still 
to be acquired. 
The temples, 
palaces, and 
monuments of 
Siam seem to 
bear the impress 
of almost every 
ancient and mod¬ 
ern civilization, 
Egyptian, Indi¬ 
an, Persian, 
Mongolian, and 
European. And 
yet, through all 
these varieties of 
style, they have 
strongly marked 
characteristics 
oftheirown. The 
government of 
Siam is the most 
singular in the 
world. It con¬ 
sists of a House 
of Lords, or Sen- 
AN Egyptian WELL. abodi , and a San 

Tuang , or secret 

council of twelve of the most powerful princes in the land, and a first and a 
second king. The second king has command of the army, and a palace and 
court of his own. By his high position he is exempt from the customary 
prostration before the first king, whom he may salute by simply raising his 
hands and joining them above his head. The rule of the king is absolute. He 
sits at the gates of the palace to receive the petitions of his people. His per¬ 
son is sacred. The highest, not less than the lowest of his subjects, approach 
him on all fours, crawling in a most abject posture. No person is allowed 
to stand erect in his presence. All the bridges in Siam are so constructed 





TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC . 185 

that he may not pass under anything on which human feet have trod. The 
king is notably temperate in his diet; boiled rice and salt fish are his favor¬ 
ite dishes. It is curious 
to see him eating boiled 
rice with gold chop-sticks. 

The bowl containing rice 
is put on a stand a little 
above the level of the 
mouth; then the two 
sticks, one in each hand, 
stir up the rice, and with 
great dexterity cause it 
to flow in a continuous 
stream into the open 
mouth below. 

The Abyssinians. 

— The Abyssinians, in 
features and form, are 
a handsome people. They 
are between five and six 
feet in height. Erect and 
slender, they are not de- 
voidof muscularstrength, appkoaching the king in siam. 

nor of that symmetrical 

roundness which so much contributes to the beauty of the human frame. 
The costume of the Abyssinian is exceedingly simple. Men of all ranks, 
from the king to the beggar, wear a shama, or loose dress of white cotton, 
Which, in graceful folds, is thrown over the shoulders so as to leave the 

hands and arms free to carry 
spear and buckler. The soft¬ 
ness of the web, and the depth 
of the red border round the 
bottom of this convenient garb, 
indicates the social position of 
the wearer, and this is so mi¬ 
nutely defined, that any one 
who should presume to ape his 
betters would, in all proba¬ 
bility, obtain a lesson or tw r o 
on dress from the imperial 
giraffe-holder. Beneath the 
shama the aristocrat dons his 
silken, damask, or velvet ka- 
mees; but this is a privilege 
only granted to a few mag¬ 
nates, and those whom the 
king delights to honor. Trou¬ 
sers of the same material as 
the shama are worn by all, and 
also the cotton waistcloth, which is so long that when wound round the 
waist, it serves the purpose of armor, in warding off blows, or in protecting 
from the thrust of sword or lance. When engaged in battle, the shama is 



EATING RICE IN SIAM. 



















186 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



THE ABYSSINIANS. 


exchanged for the dino—a mere piece of skin, sometimes of the lion or leop¬ 
ard, but more commonly of the sheep. 

























187 


TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 



Tlie Herdsman of the Alps.— The herdsman of the Alps leads a 
life peculiar to his race and land. The pastures whereon his cattle graze 
have no resemblance to the broad prairies of our own land, or to the almost 
boundless pampas and sheep-walks of South America and Australia. He 
has no use for horses or 
weapons of defence; formida¬ 
ble beasts of prey have long 
since disappeared before 
the prowess of the hardy Al¬ 
pine hunter, and the narrow 
valleys, precipitous mountain 
paths, and elevated plateaus 
hemmed by almost unfathom¬ 
able gorges, afford too pre¬ 
carious a footing for the horse. 

During the summer the moun¬ 
tains yield plentiful pastur¬ 
age, but in spring it does not 
come at the same time on all 
the pasture lands. The grass 
on the lower valleys and 
slopes starts first; then the 
herdsman leads out his cat¬ 
tle, as the accompanying illus¬ 
tration shows, and they cross 
the streams by means of rude 
bridges, sniffing, with keen 
enjoyment, the mountain air 
from the summits of rocks, 
and reposing at ease when 
their appetites are satisfied on 
the luxuriant grass. As the 
summer advances the higher 
pastures are approached, 
and in July and August the 
herd feeds on slopes that 
are just below the eternal 
snows. Autumn comes and 
the herdsman turns home¬ 
ward, and when the winter 
storms are reveling above, 
the cattle are grazing again 
in the lower valleys. The 
herdsman loves his moun¬ 
tain life as the sailor loves 
the sea. Setting forth in 
the spring, he carries on the herdsman of the alps. 

his broad shoulders his house¬ 
hold furniture, holding in one hand the milk pail, and grasping in the 
other the iron-pointed alpenstock. A large basket on his back contains his 
milk strainer, some straw, a milking stool, a cheese mold, the stand on 
which the cheeses are placed to drain, and the kettle iu which the curd is 
made. Seldom, until winter, can he revisit the chalet where his family lives, 


♦ 













188 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

* and as he ascends the rugged mountain path he casts an affectionate, lin¬ 
gering glance below. 



Life in Iceland.— Men and women, masters and servants, all inhabit 
the same room, while cleanliness is not much attended to; but, poor as they 
are, and accustomed to great privations, they set an example of cheerful 
contentment. The beauty of the young girls is remarkable; their fair hair 
falls in long plaits, partially covered by a black cloth coil, daintily worn on 
one side of the head, finished at the top with a tassel of colored silk, run 
through a silver or steel buckle, which floats on the shoulder. It reminds 
the traveler of the Greek head dress, but the blue eyes, with their sweet, 
benevolent expression, soon recall to their minds their Danish origin. The 
dress is made of the cloth woven in the country, and on festive days the 
bodice is gaily adorned with silver braid and velvet, while the belt and 
sleeves are ornamented with silver devices, beautifully chased, and often of 

great value. On wet and 
cold days the shawl becomes 
a useful mantilla, completely 
enveloping the head, and 
defending the wearer from 
the effects of the frequent 
storms. 

The Lapp and Kis 
Eeindeer.— The mountain 
Lapps of Norway have 
learned to drink coffee and 
wear stout Norwegian cloth, 
but they set as much store 
by the reindeer as ever. A 
poor family will have fifty 
and upward in a flock, the 
middle classes 300 to 700, 
and the richest 1,000 or 
more. The reindeer is as 
AN ICELANDIC lady. ' much beloved by the Lapp 

as his pig by the Irishman, 
and the reindeer often sleep in his hut in much the same fashion. The Lapp 
will whisper to his reindeer when harnessing him to his sleigh, and will tell 
him where he is to go, and declares he understands him. The reindeer is 
much like a stag, only smaller; all the people, animals and trees in Lapland 
are very diminutive, the men are mostly under five feet high, and the 
women under four feet nine inches, so great are the rigors of the climate in 
this as in all countries under the Arctic Circle; and the cows, sheep and 
goats are small in proportion. In summer the reindeer feed upon grass, 
and give excellent milk; in the winter they feed upon moss, which they 
scratch up under great depths of snow with marvelous instinct. When win¬ 
ter draws near great numbers are killed, and the flesh is dried and smoked 
to provide food when the ground is covered with snow, and but few birds, 
like ptarmigan, partridges and capercailzie, are met with. The flesh is very 
nutritious, and after a course of grass feeding it is surprising how soon the 
reindeer become fat and plump. The skin makes their dresses and boots, the 
sinews their thread and fishing lines, and the horns their domestic utensils. 









TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 189 

Mountain Traveling 1 in Spain.— To all lovers of natural scenery 
there is a peculiar charm in mountain traveling. It offers a wonderful va¬ 
riety of experiences, and though often fatiguing, is not wearisome because 
of monotony. The modes differ, it is true. In these latter years facilities 
of all kinds are rapidly multiplied. Locomotion upon mule back was form- 



MOUNTAIN TRAVELING IN SPAIN. 


erly the sole means in mountain regions, as it remains to this day in many 
countries. Our engraving spiritedly illustrates seme of its felicities in 
Spain, where the spirit of Progress is as yet only manifest in political striv¬ 
ings after Republicanism. These narrow paths, winding around giddy 
ledges, where a misstep would send you a thousand feet below, are pleas- 











190 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


anter in the picture than in reality. And the lolling in dolcefar niente style 
upon your mule’s back, guitar in hand, idly strumming its strings while 
your deft-footed animal picks his way along, is rather more sentimental and 
less practical than even things Spanish are ordinarily apt to be. 

A Dinner in Palestine _The Jews generally eat their dinner before 

noon, and their supper after sundown. The chief meal of the Jews was in 
the evening; of the Egyptians it was at noon. The early Hebrews sat or 
squatted round a low table upon which the meal was served, but in later 
times couches were used to recline upon before the tables. The guests 
were ranged in order of rank side by side, resting upon the left elbow, the 
right arm being free. The dishes, as they are to this day, were generally 
stews of rice, beans, and burgal (cracked wheat), with soups or sauces. 
The meats were so cooked that when served they fell to pieces. Knives 

and forks were not used at 
the tables, but spoons, and 
generally thin slices of bread, 
were doubled up and dipped 
into the dishes, all eating 
from the same dish. These 
pieces of bread also served 
the purpose of napkins. 

Bagdad Customs_ 

Among the more wealthy, the 
husband sleeps on a raised 
bedstead made of wicker 
work called doeshick. It has 
a mattress and cushions of 
silk or cotton, and is covered 
by a thick quilt, but is with¬ 
out curtain or mosquito-net. 
The night-air is always dry; 
toward morning there usually 
springs up a cool breeze that 
dies away soon after sunrise. 
The wife occupies a similar 
bed, but always on the 
ground—that is, without a bedstead, and always at a respectable distance 
from her husband. The children are scattered about on mattresses, and 
the slaves or servants sleep on mats, but all within sight of each other. In 
a few houses there are low parapets dividing off the sleeping apartments, 
but these are rare, and probably occupied by Europeans. In retiring, the 
natives do not divest themselves of the clothing worn during the day except 
to lay aside the outer robes. After rising, the husband performs his de¬ 
votions, and then seats himself on his carpet, where his wife serves him with 
a chibouk and coffee with her own hands, retiring at a respectable distance 
to wait for the cup, and sometimes with hands crossed, and even kissing his 
hand on receiving the cup from it—a mark of respect very common in the 
East. While the husband is lounging on the carpet or cushions, enjoying 
his morning pipe, the women of the family generally pray, going through 
the same forms and prostrations as the men; but the children under twelve 
years of age never join in their devotions. 




191 


TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 

How they Dance in Italy.— In Italy, where the country men and wo¬ 
men dance together, the first thing they do is to toss off their shoes, if they 
wear any. A man don’t go up to a woman and ask her if she will dance, but he 
fixes his eye on her from a distance and nods. She nods in return, and then 
both kick off their shoes and advance towards each other and begin to dance. 
The dance, besides an incessant up and down of steps, represents also quite 
a little love drama in gestures, and the success of the dance depends on the 
cleverness of the dancers to express the mimic scene. He courts, pleads, be¬ 
seeches, runs after his dancer, tries to clasp her waist and kiss her; all the 
time he is dancing. The girl, of course, denies, laughs, shakes her head 
and escapes her partner, till at last, the dance finished, she rushes to her 
place and resumes her shoes. 

Tlie Greeks. —The Greeks belong to the great Indo-European race, 
who from the earliest times have been the conquerors and civilizers of the 
world. They are the only existing representatives of the ancient world. 
They have maintained posses¬ 
sion of their country, their lan¬ 
guage, and their social organi¬ 
zation, against physical and 
moral forces which have swept 
from the face of the earth all 
their early contemporaries, 
friends and enemies. Even in 
dress they retain the steeple 
hat and tassel at the end, also 
the gay vest and baggy trou¬ 
sers. 

A Wedding Race.— 

Among the Huzarehs—a people 
of Asia—the following is the 
way weddings are managed: 

The suitors of the maiden, nine 
in number, appear in the field, 
all unarmed, but mounted on 
the best horses they can pro¬ 
cure; while the bride herself, on a beautiful Turcoman horse, surrounded 
by her relations, anxiously surveys the group of lovers. The conditions of 
the bridal race are these: The maiden has a certain start given, which she 
avails herself of to gain a sufficient distance from the crowd to enable her 
to manage her steed with freedom, so as to assist in his pursuit the suitor 
whom she prefers. On a signal from the father, all the horsemen gallop 
after the fair one, and whichever first succeeds in encircling her waist with 
his arms, no matter whether disagreeable or to her choice, is entitled to 
claim her as his wife. After the usual delays incident upon such interesting 
occasions, the maiden quits the circle of her relations, and, putting her 
steed in a hard gallop, darts into the open plain. When satisfied with her 
position, she turns round to the impatient youths and stretches out her 
arms towards them, as if to woo their approach. This is the moment for 
giving the signal to commence the chase, ani each of the impatient youths, 
dashing his pointed heels into his courser’s sides, darts like the unhooded 
hawk in pursuit of the fugitive dove. 



192 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The race-course is generally extensive—say twelve miles long and threo 
in width—and as the horsemen speed across the plain, the favored lover 
becomes soon apparent by the efforts of the maiden to avoid all others who 
might approach her. 

Weddings in Borneo.—On the wedding-day the bride and bride¬ 
groom are brought from opposite ends of the village to the spot where the 
ceremony is to be performed. They are made to sit on two bars of iron, 



MARRIAGE CEREMONY IN BORNEO. 

that blessings as lasting and health as vigorous may attend the pair. A 
cigar and betal-leaf, prepared with the areca-nut, are next put into the 
hands of the bride and bridegroom. One of the priests then waves two 
foAvls over the heads of the couple, and in a long address to the Supreme 
Being calls down blessings upon the pair, and implores that peace and 
happiness may attend the union. After the heads of the affianced have 
been knocked against each oth&r three or four times, the bridegroom puts 
the prepared siri-leaf and cigar into the mouth of the bride, while she does 
the same to him, whom she thus acknowledges as her husband. 






















































TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS , ETC. 193 

Salutations.—Arabs of distinction kiss each other’s cheeks and their 
own hands, and exclaim, “ God grant thee his favor and send thy family 
health.” Women and children kiss the beards of their husbands and fathers. 

Burmese rub their noses on each other’s cheeks and say, “ Give me a 
smell! ” 

Chinese ask of equals, “ Have you eaten your rice ? ” “Is your stomach 
in order ? ” The response is, “ Thanks to your abundant felicity.” 

In some parts of Germany, gentlemen invariably kiss the hands of their 
lady acquaintances when they meet, and gentlemen kiss each other on the 
cheek. 

Hollanders, with their proverbial love of good living, salute their friends 
by asking, “ Have you had a good dinner ? ” 

Italians kiss the hands of ladies to whom they are related, asking, “ How 
does she stand ? ” 

Japanese remove their sandals when they meet a superior, exclaiming, 
“Hurt me not!” 

Laplanders, when they meet on the ice, press their noses firmly together. 

Mohammedans say, “ Peace be with you; ” to which the reply is, “ On 
you be peace; ” to which is added, “ and the mercy and blessings of God.” 

Manillas bend their bodies, place their hands upon their cheeks, raise 
one leg, and bend the knee. 

Moors ride at full speed toward a stranger, suddenly stop, and then fire 
a pistol over his head. 

Persians salute by crossing necks, and laying cheek to cheek, with the 
extravagant greeting, “Is thy exalted high condition good?” and “May thy 
shadow never be less.” 

The negro kings on the African coasts salute each other by snapping the 
middle finger three times. 

In Otaheite they rub noses, a custom common with many savages. 

The inhabitants of Carmine, when they show particular attachment, open 
a vein and present their blood to their friend to drink. 

Philippine Islanders take a person’s hand or foot and rub it over their 
faces. 

In the Straits of the Sound they raise the left foot of the person addressed, 
and pas£ it over the right leg and then to the face. 

The usual words of salutation in Cairo are, “How do you sweat?” an 
absence of perspiration being, in that climate, an indication of fever. 

Customs of the Russians. —Russian courting, among the middle 
classes, is peculiar. The first Whitsunday after a young girl is acknowledged 
by her mother to be of marriageable years, she is taken to the Petersburg 
summer garden to join in the “bridal promenade.” This consists of the 
daughters of the Russian tradesmen walking in procession, followed by their 
parents. Up and down they go, pretending to chat with each other and 
to take no notice of the young men—the tradesmen’s sons, dressed in their 
best clothes—who walk in another procession on the other side. However, 
every now and then some young fellow slips out of his proper rank and adds 
himself to the line of girls on the other side, speaking to one particularly. 
The parents of the girl join in the conversation in a few moments, and soon 
they leave the promenade and are joined by the parents of the young man. 
Generally the old folks have talked it over before, but on this occasion 
every one pretends to be surprised. On the next day a female confidante 
pajls on the girl’s parents and asks her hand. This granted, all the relations 


194 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


on both sides meet and argue about the portion to be given with the girl. 
If this is not satisfactory all is at an end; if it is what is expected the be¬ 
trothal takes place. The bride and bridegroom kneel down upon a great 
fur mat, and the bride takes a ring from her finger and gives it to the bride¬ 
groom, who returns the gift by another. The bride’s mother meanwhile 
crumbles a piece of bread over her daughter’s head, and her father holds 
the image of his daughter’s patron saint over his future son-in-law’s well 
brushed locks. As they arise the bridemaids sing a wedding song. The 
guests each bring forward a present of some sort. Wine is handed about, 
and some one says it is bitter and needs sweetening. Upon this the bride¬ 
groom kisses the bride—the sweetness being supposed to be provided by 
this kiss—salutes the company and takes his leave. Courting time has now 
begun. Every evening the lover comes to his lady’s home with a present, 
which is always something good to eat—generally cakes or sugar plums. 
He makes love under rather awkward circumstances, for the bridemaids sit 
about the betrothed pair in a circle, singing songs descriptive of their happi¬ 
ness. The last evening of the courtship is enlivened by the presentation of 
the gifts of the bridegroom, which must include brushes, combs, soap and 
perfumery. On receiving these, the bridemaids instantly carry the bride 
away and wash her, dress her hair and perfume her pocket handkerchief. 
Thus touched up she returns to the company, and the bride’s father gives 
his future son-in-law the marriage portion, which he takes home with him in 
a neat bag. The next morning he returns for the lady herself. She receives 
him with her hair unbraided and flowing down her back. They are married 
by the ceremonies of the Greek Church, and the old folks never go to the 
wedding dinner. Those eternal bridemaids, whom they must hate by this 
time, are there, however, still on duty, and the evening closes by the bride 
kneeling down and pulling off her husband’s boots, to prove her intention 
to be an obedient and submissive wife. 

The chief peasant in a Russian village sometimes has more power than 
any man in the empire excepting the Czar. He has the power, for instance, 
of ordering a culprit to be flogged—a right which is denied by law to any 
other public functionary or citizen in the empire. Further, a majority of 
the peasants in a commune can sentence one of their number to be beaten 
with sticks, and there is no appeal against the sentence. It is true that 
women may no longer be flogged, and that the maximum number of blows 
which may be inflicted on a man is twenty, while formerly men were some¬ 
times beaten to death by order of the commune; but the commune can still 
sentence a man to banishment to Siberia for life. This sentence has been 
passed for such petty offences as stealing a handkerchief or a little honey, 
or opening a brandy-shop without the permission of the commune. 

When a merchant gives a dinner, says the author of “ Russia and the 
Russians,” he and his wife stand behind the chairs of the guests, and wait 
upon them, receiving the dishes from the servants and placing them upon 
the table. Every time one of the guests asks for more sweetening in his 
wine, the merchant must march round the table, meet his wife, and salute 
her. When it is a newly-married couple this ceremony, from the frequency 
of its being required, often becomes fatiguing to the parties. 

Courting in Burmah.—Courting in Burmah is all done at night. 
There is, in fact, a special time for it, designated in popular chronology as 
“ lads-go-courting-time.” This is a kind of indefinite period, centering 
round nine o’clock in the evening. Though the smitten youth may not 


TRAVELS , MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 195 

philander to his Dulcinea alone, he is spared the presence of the old people. 
It is not etiquette for them to be present. Nevertheless, though this is per¬ 
fectly recognized, it is not always agreeable or convenient for the parents 
to get out of the way whenever the gallant wants to do some sweethearting. 

Burmese houses are all on piles, and never more than one story high. 
As a general rule, there are only two or three rooms altogether, and there 
are, therefore, but two courses open to the elders. They must either go out 
and wander about while the courting goes on, or they must go to bed. The 
former alternative does not commend itself to the mother, who likes to 
superintend operations for herself through a convenient slit in the bamboo 
walls, and going off to bed, as it were, at word of command is only compati¬ 
ble with a most mild and yielding disposition in the father. Consequently, 
when the girl is arrayed for conquest—flowers twined in her hair, fragrant 
cosmetics on her cheek and neck, and her finger nails delicately tinted—it 
is not always possible to summon the ardent youth forthwith. He is out¬ 
side, dressed in his smartest, and with a couple of companions bent possibly 
on the same errand as himself; but he is obliged to stay there till he gets 
the signal that the coast is clear, and that he may come up. 

Every youth has his own private signal, by means of which he announces 
to his lady love his arrival in the street. This is almost invariably effected 
by means of a fiddle with two strings. The tone of the instrument is not 
sweet, and the performer starts by the light of nature. He saws backward 
and forward diligently, and keeps a vigilant look-out for the wave of the 
handkerchief or the jerk of the lamp which will announce to him that the 
coast is clear, and that he may advance and ’pay his devotions. Natural 
feelings, as well as a sense of sheepishness, prevent him from executing 
his notes immediately in front of the house. He therefore stations himself 
at the nearest corner, or a hundred yards or so down the street. The result 
of this is that he has to fiddle away all the harder, and therefore to extend 
the infliction over the greatest possible area of the quarter. 

When at last the happy man receives his summons, there is peace again 
for a time, only, however, to be interrupted in something less than an hour, 
when, the sweet nothings having all been said as best they can be before an 
unsympathetic audience, the young men issue forth to go to some other 
girl’s house, where another of the party is interested. And so it goes on 
until it is too late to make further rounds, and a relieved neighborhood 
sighs with delight to find that it is “ lads-go-home-time,” otherwise “men’s- 
feet-silent-time,” and that there will be no more fiddle-scraping for another 
twenty-four hours. 

Sandwich. Island Houses.—The houses of Honolulu are always 
open, day-and night, as the temperature is so warm that one has to sleep 
out of doors. They are built mostly of wood, though many of the oldest and 
more substantial houses are built of coral stone, a few of lava stone, and 
many may yet be seen within the limits of Honolulu made of grass and 
occupied by the natives. 

These native huts or houses are built by making a framework of bamboo 
poles, covered with layers of the banana tree, the trunk of which can be 
removed in layers. This, again, is covered with grass and trimmed on the 
corners and top by weaving the grass into different patterns. One opening 
or door usually admits enough light and air for the average native, though 
some huts are divided off into several rooms, with two and sometimes three 
doors. 


196 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

A mat hung down on the inside, covering the opening, is the common 
door. Mats made of broad grass interwoven or braided, and sometimes 
flags, form the carpets, and a pile of from two to ten, and sometimes even 
more, makes the bed on which the natives and invited guests sleep. 

Furniture there is none, the natives always sitting on the ground with 
their legs crossed beneath them. Their kitchen is outside, and is composed 
of a heap of stones, and ordinarily an iron pot. 

Habits of Siberians.—Many of the habits and customs of these peo¬ 
ple are very singular. Along with much rudeness and simplicity, they have 
a high degree of ingenuity. At night, for instance, an Ostaik can tell the 
time very accurately by judging the position of the Great Bear; and as this 
constellation is constantly varying with the season, the operation involves 
on the part of the Ostaik a calculation of some magnitude. In common with 
all barbarous and semi-barbaric races, they manifest gi'eat dexterity in the 
use of weapons. In shooting small animals, such as squirrels, hares, etc., 
fur the sake of their furs, care is taken that the animal shall be struck on 
the head only; and in this the native seldom fails, even though their rifles 
are very clumsy in construction. With the bow and arrow, which is the 
weapon most in use, they are equally dexterous. Their method of catching 
salmon, as described by a Cossack officer who witnessed it, is peculiar. In 
marching through the country at the head of a detachment, he encamped 
one evening on the banks of a river; and on the following morning he 
observed one of the natives walk to a pool near at hand, into which he 
waded, and then stood motionless as a statue, his spear poised aloft, and his 
keen eye fixed on the water before him. Not a movement indicated that life 
inhabited the figure, until, with lightning rapidity, the spear was launched 
forward and as quickly withdrawn, a fine salmon quivering on its barbed 
point. Three times in twenty minutes was the operation performed, and 
each time a fish rewarded the native’s skill. And yet their cleverness is but 
slightly applied to the arts of life. The Tungooses, for instance, use bear 
and reindeer skins to form, their beds; but as they have never discovered 
the art of tanning, these articles when not in use are buried beneath the 
snow, by which means the hair is prevented from falling off. This same 
tribe, too, are remarkably improvident; they will consume nearly a week’s 
provisions in one night, and go hungry the remaining six days. 

An Afghan Beauty.—The Afghan beauty has blue-black hair, 
plastered stiff with gums, and either worn in various forms on the head or 
plaited in long braids down the back. The margins of the ears are pierced 
and decorated with rows of small silver rings, while large rings hang from 
the lobes. The neck and breast are tattoed with little figures of stars and 
flowers, and the sparkle of the lustrous black eyes is enhanced by coating 
the lids with black antimony. The cheeks are roughed and dotted with 
little round moles of gold and silver tinsel fastened on with gum. A loose 
muslin or silk jacket of yellow, blue or red, hangs below the waist, and 
wide trousers of silk or other colored material complete the indoor costume. 
On going out, the lady wears leggings of cotton cloth, gartered at the knee, 
shoes of red or yellow leather, and a hookaposh or cloak. Some ladies 
wear horse-hair veils, and others fasten vinaigrettes to their foreheads which 
contain attar of roses or other scents. Afghan ladies exercise much in¬ 
fluence over their semi-savage husbands, and one of Shere Ali’s wives 
sometimes smartly boxes him on the ear with a slipper, 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 197 

A Persian Wedding.—From an early hour in the morning of a Per¬ 
sian wedding—I speak of a wedding, in the middle ranks of life—there has 
been considerable bustle in the house of the bride’s father. Carpets have 
been borrowed, and rooms that at other times were unused and empty are 
now furnished and decorated with flowers. The poor are standing in a 
crowd at the outer door, sure of being plentifully regaled. The outer court 
has been got ready for the men. Vases of flowei*s are placed in rows at all 
open windows and in every recess; thirty or forty pounds of tobacco have 
been prepared by pounding and moistening for smoking; the courtyard is 
freshly watered. If it be a calm day—and spring and summer days in Per¬ 
sia are always free from wind—rose-leaves are sprinkled on the surface of 
the water of the tank in the center of the courtyards, so as to form the word 
Bismillah, the pious welcome of the Mussulman. Similar preparations, but 
on a larger scale, have been made in the handsome courtyard which con¬ 
tains the women’s quarters. From this courtyard the negresses may be 
seen busily engaged in the kitchen preparing the breakfast for perhaps one 
hundred guests, and the visitors will stop all day, only leaving to escort the 
bride to the home of her new husband, whither she will go after dark. 

Large samovars, or Eussian urns, which are in use in every Persian 
house, are hissing like small steam engines, ready to furnish tea for the 
guests on their arrival; not our idea of tea, but a pale infusion, sweetened 
to the consistency of syrup, from the center of each cup of which will pro¬ 
ject a little island of superfluous sugar. Orange, sherbet, lemon, pomegra¬ 
nate, rose-water, cherry, quince, and an endless further variety of these 
refreshing drinks will be offered the thirsty guests. And now come the 
musicians—the Mussulmans and the Jews—the latter a ragged and motley 
crew, but more skillful than their better-clad rivals. 

At last all is ready. The master of the house, dressed in his best, gives 
an anxious glance at the preparations, and has an excited discussion with 
his wife or wives. He waves his hand to the musicians, and hurries to a 
seat near the door to be ready to welcome his guests. The music strikes up 
a merry tune. Then in a loud scream rises the voice of the principal solo 
singer, who commences one of the sad love-songs of Persia in a high falsetto 
voice. His face reddens with his exertions, which last through a dozen 
verses. His eyes nearly start from his head, the muscles of his neck stand 
out like ropes, but he keeps correct time on the big tambourine, which he 
plays with consummate skill. 

The music is the signal to the invited guests; they now arrive in crowds. 
The host receives them with transports of pleasure—all the extravagant com¬ 
pliments of Eastern politeness pass bet ween them. “ May your wedding be 
fortunate!” “You are indeed welcome; this is a never-to-be-forgotten 
honor to me, your slave.” In they pour, the men in their best; the women, 
closely veiled, pass on unnoticed bv the men into the bride’s rooms, where 
they unveil and appear to the delighted hostesses in their finest clothes and 
all their jewelry, and in most cases with their faces carefully painted. All 
the dresses worn among Persian ladies for indoor use only reach to the 
knee; their wearers look like opera dancers. The ladies’ feet and legs are 
bare, as a rule, and a gauze shirt of gay color and a tiny zouave jacket, 
elaborately embroidered, are worn. The colors of their clothes are of the 
brightest, and the quantity of solid jewelry worn in honor of the bride is 
prodigious. 

Conversation goes on, pipes are smoked by both men and women. Mes¬ 
sages pass between the two courtyards. But the men remain in their quar- 


198 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


ters and the women in theirs. The musicians and buffoons, however, are 
allowed in the women’s court on these occasions; they are supposed to be 
mere professional persons, and on this account are tolerated. At noon a 
heavy breakfast is served, after which buffoons dance and sing songs in¬ 
decent enough in themselves, but tolerated in the East on such occasions. 

The bride meanwhile goes to the bath, whither she is accompanied by 
many of the ladies, the friends and near relatives of the family, who super¬ 
intend her toilet and perfume her body. At twilight there is a hum of sus¬ 
pense. The whole place is lighted up by lamps, candles in shades and lan¬ 
terns. A noise of a distant crowd is heard; alms in money are freely dis¬ 
tributed among the crowd of beggars and poor at the door; horses are 
brought for the bride and her friends. The procession of the bridegroom is 
approaching, and it must be understood that another grand party has been 
going on at his father’s house; the musicians sing and play their loudest; 
the roofs (the flat roofs of the East) are thronged by all the women and 
children of the quarter. The bride appears, carefully veiled. She goes to 
the door and mounts a gayly caparisoned horse. All the male guests join 
the procession. Lighted cressets, full of blazing embers, are carried on 
high poles to lead and light the way. The lanterns of all the guests are 
lighted and carried in this procession, which joyfully wends its way through 
a cheering crowd. At the moment the bride leaves her father’s house a 
shout of “Kellellel!” announces the fact. Fireworks blaze, the music is 
deafening; above all is heard the monotonous banging of the wedding drum. 
And so, the buffoons and musicians leading the way, the procession slowly 
moves on. As it approaches the house of the bridegroom, several sheep are 
sacrificed in honor of the bride; they are slain at her feet as she steps over 
her husband’s threshold for the first time, accompanied by a female friend 
or two. Then, invoking blessings on the pair, all wend their way home, and 
the festival is over. 

A Persian Dinner.—A traveler thus describes a dinner in Persia: 
“ A tray, containing a chillo and pillo, radishes, fried eggs, a stew of meat, 
and a bowl of sherbet, was allotted to each two persons, and, at the word 
* Bismillah’ (in the name of God), the company fell to in silence, unbroken 
during the whole time, save by the sound of the various jaws in process of 
mastication. Hands were thrust deep into the greasy dishes, rice squeezed 
into balls and swallowed with astonishing rapidity; and in less than a quar¬ 
ter of an hour little remained of the immense piles which had been set be¬ 
fore them. Water was then brought in, and each guest slightly wetted his 
fingers, afterward wiping them on his pocket-handkerchief or coat, as the 
case might be, which ceremony had scarcely been performed when our Shah- 
seven friend and one or two others loosened their belts, and immediately 
lapsed into a state of torpidity.” 

A Death in Persia.—The sick man lies in extremis on a thin mat¬ 
tress upon the floor, covered by a quilted silken coverlet. Twenty or thirty 
persons are in the room where he is dying. The smoke of many hubble- 
bubbles clouds the air; whispered conversation is general. The doctors 
have declared their patient’s condition hopeless, and as a last resort, certain 
charms suggested by a weird-looking dervish have been tried. But the 
crab broth, prepared from the tiny crustaceans that inhabit the streamlets 
round Shiraz, the patient has been unable to swallow; and the dervish 
points out to the relatives of the dying man that his panacea has only not 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 199 

proved infallible because it was tried too late. A veiled woman, the wife of 
the dying man, sits weeping at the side of her husband’s pillow. She fre¬ 
quently holds to his face a moistened piece of mud torn from the wall (this 
wetted mud is supposed to have a very reviving influence, and is used by 
Persians as we use smelling salts). 

Tea is handed round in small cups;* the crowd in the room becomes 
greater; every window is shut, and, as the outside temperature is ninety 
degrees, some idea of the heat within can be formed. The crowd is not 
here from mere curiosity. A man is sick; then where should his friends be, 
they say, if not by his bedside? The samovars (Russian tea urns) steam 
and bubble; the room is filled with clouds of tobacco smoke and the steam 
from the urns. And now, just as two hundred years ago was done in Eng¬ 
land, a fowl is killed and placed warm and bleeding on the patient’s feet. 
All is of no avail, however. The man has breathed his last. 

The wife yields her place by the bedside. Moistened cotton wool is 
placed in the mouth of the dead, in the orifices of the nostrils, and in the 
ears. A moollah begins to read aloud the prescribed portion of the Koran, 
commencing, “ O man, I swear by the instructive Koran that thou art one of 
the messengers of God sent to show the right way,” etc. This portion of the 
Mussulman’s sacred book was called by Mohammed himself “ the heart of 
the Koran.” And now all present witness aloud that the dead man was a 
good and pious Mohammedan. The limbs are composed, and a cup of water 
is placed at the head of the corpse. No sooner is this done than a moollah 
ascends to the flat roof of the house and begins to read in a shrill monotone 
certain verses from the holy book. This announces to the neighbors that 
the man is veritably dead; and at the same moment his relations shriek and 
wail, “Woe, woel he is dead; he has passed away.” These are the ex¬ 
pressions of a real grief. But presently the professional mourners arrive 
and rend the air with their shrill screaming, which is like the “ keening ” of 
the Irish. 

The house is soon filled with friends and neighbors, who add their cries 
to the screams of the mourners. The women of the family hasten to array 
themselves in “bitter” ( i. e., sombre) garments—not in actual black, but 
in sad colors; neither they nor the men wash or dress their hair until the 
funeral and the first days of mourning are over. The male relatives do not 
literally rend their garments, but give them the right appearance by open¬ 
ing certain seams ol their coats and cloaks with a penknife; and instead of 
casting dust upon their heads they dab mud on then- hats. 

And now come the “ washers of the dead.” To each parish are attached 
a family of these people, who get a despised livelihood by performing the 
last offices for the dead. The corpse having been washed at an adjoining 
stream, the hands are placed across the chest, and it is wrapped in the 
shroud of cotton cloth that the deceased has probably had by him, as a sort 
of memento mori, for years. Camphor (real # vegetable camphor) is placed 
beneath the shroud, and the body is laid in a rough coffin made of thin 
planks and brought back to the house. The coffin in Persia is of a thin and 
unsubstantial kind, and the burial always takes place within twenty-four 
hours of decease. 

Moslem Marriages.—Brokers generally arrange these marriages, 
though there are some love matches in which the parties become attached 
to each other without the intervention of a third party. When a man has 
reached the marrying age, he is expected to enter the matrimonial ranks, 


200 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

unless prevented by poverty or some other impediment, and it is considered 
improper and even dishonorable tor him to refrain from so doing. If a mar¬ 
riageable youth has a mother, she describes to him the girls of her acquain¬ 
tance, and enables him to decide whom to take to his house and home. 
Frequently he engages the services of a woman marriage broker, who has 
access to harems where there are marriageable women, and is employed by 
them quite as often as by the men. She receives fees from one party, and 
frequently from both. In her visits to the harems she is accompanied by 
the mother or other feminine relatives of the young man; she introduces 
them as ordinary visitors, but gives a sly hint as to the object of their call. 
If they do not like the appearance of the maiden, they plead many calls to 
make, and cut short their stay; but if satisfied, they come to business at 
once, and ask how much property, personal or otherwise, the young lady 
possesses. When these facts are ascertained, they depart, with the intima¬ 
tion that they may call again. If the young man is satisfied with the report 
of the broker, he sends her again to the harem to state his own prospects in 
life, and if she looks favorably on his suit, the match is made. Everything 
is arranged by deputy, and the Mohammedan lover does not see the face of 
his mistress until she is his wife. 

Marriages in Servia— The fathers of two houses concerned meet 
and settle the matter together, exchanging presents which often amount to 
a considerable value. The brother of the bride delivers her to the solemn 
procession, which comes to conduct her to her new abode; and there she is 
received by the seslee, a sister-in-law of the intended bridegroom. She 
dresses a child, touches with a distaff the walls, which are so often to see 
her occupied with this implement, and carries bread, wine and water up to 
the table, which it will become her daily duty to prepare. With these sym¬ 
bolical ceremonies she enters into the new community. Her mouth is 
sealed by a piece of sugar, to denote that she should only utter little, and 
only what is good. As yet she is only a stranger, and for a whole year she 
is termed the “ betrothed.” By an assumption of continued bashfulness, 
prescribed by custom, she keeps apart even from her husband. In the 
presence of others she scarcely converses with him, much less would a 
playful phrase be permitted from her lips. It is only when years have past, 
and she has become the mother of grown-up children, that she, in reality, 
finds herself on an equality with the other members of the household. 

Marriage Customs in Tartary.— Among the Kirghese the practice 
of polygamy obtains. Generally the eldest brother of a family has more 
than one wife. The first wife is mistress of the household, and is called 
baibiche. To her are subject not only her husband’s other wives, but also 
all the other females of the family. The head of a household will often 
send a portion of his herds several hundred miles away under the care of 
his wife, while he himself will either remain with his other wives about the 
grazing ground, or go and encamp somewhere by himself. In winter the 
family comes together again. The manifold circumstances connected with 
marriage among the Kirghese are somewhat formidable, and involve the 
payment of a kalim beside the giving of various presents. The affair is ar¬ 
ranged as to its preliminaries by matchmakers, and the bridegroom after 
betrothal has sometimes to wait for a year or more until he can bring the 
remaining portion of the kalim. If during this period the betrothed girl 
should die, her parents are bound to give instead their next daughter, or in 


201 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 

default to return the kalim and pay also a fine of one or two horses and 
robes or furs. So also is it if the girl should refuse to marry, which she may 
do on account of the suitor’s ill health, or his poverty, or (in some localities) 
her personal dislike. Yet another custom is that if the bridegroom die or 
refuse to marry the girl his parents are bound to take her for their next 
son, paying a fine, usually a camel, in case of refusal. When the prescribed 
period of betrothal is at an end, the bridegroom dressed and mounted at his 
best, goes with his friends to the aul or village of the bride, where the tent 
has been prepared for his reception. Throughout the ceremonies of be¬ 
trothal the bride’s brother has the right of pilfering from the bridegroom 
whatever he pleases; but now the bride’s relations come and take as pres¬ 
ents almost everything he has—his coat, hat, girdle, horse and saddle, say¬ 
ing each one that they are for the education of the bride—a seizure that is 
afterward repaid by the relations of the bridegroom on the visit to their aul 
of the relations of the bride. 

Polygamy in Kafirland —Polygamy is universally admitted through¬ 
out all Kaffraria, nor is there any legal limit to the number of wives. But 
in Kafirland a man is not entitled to choose his wife or wives; his wishes 
are in a great degree subordinate to the “ intentions ” of those who have 
daughters to settle in life. The number of wives, therefore, is generally 
proportioned to the wealth of the husband. The refusal of a bride is con¬ 
sidered an insult to the family, to be expiated only by the plunder of the 
otfender’s kraal, or by his blood. An old man, if wealthy, is therefore sure 
to be burdened with a “ large establishment; ” and he is frequently obliged 
to accept a young wife when his feelings would rather lead him to decline 
the proffered happiness. The average number of wives to each married 
man among the common people is said to be about three, but the old Kafir 
lawyers, who have amassed wealth in the pursuit of a lucrative profession, 
are known to have as many as ten forced on them, and these ladies are not 
long in learning the art of- dissipating a fortune, or of bringing their nig¬ 
gardly lord to his grave. A Kafir, moreover, is obliged to take not only 
any wife that may be offered to him, but to pay for her, although the trans¬ 
action is not regarded in the light of a purchase. The original idea was, 
that the “ consideration ” should be held as a deposit or security for the 
proper treatment of the women, and as a token of her husband’s regard; 
and, accordingly, a girl considers herself as slighted if the usual honorarium 
has not been given to her parent. A young bride has been known to run 
away from her husband when she discovered that she had not been paid 
for. 

Australian Marriage Customs.— When a girl is betrothed her 
mother and aunts may not look at or speak to the man for the rest of his 
life, but if they meet him they squat down by the wayside and cover up 
their heads, and when he and they are obliged to speak in one another’s 
presence they use a peculiar lingo which they call “turn-tongue.” This 
queer dialect is not used for concealment, for everybody understands it, 
and some examples of it show that it has much in common with the ordinary 
language. To give an idea of the state of formality into which life has come 
among these supposed free-and-easy savages, mention may be made of the 
duties of the bridesmaid and groomsman. When the married pair have 
been taken to the new hut built for them, for the next two moons the 
groomsman and the husband sleep on one side of the fire, the bridesmaid 


202 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 

and the wife on the other, the new married couple not being allowed to 
speak to or look at one another. The bride is called a “ not-look-around,” 
and the pair in this embarrassing position are a standing joke to the young 
people living near, who amuse themselves by peeping in and laughing at 
them. 

A Bulgarian Wake. —When the father of the family feels his end ap¬ 
proaching, he sends for the priest and begins to bargain with him about his 
funeral, and settles the details of his “ wake.” Having arranged all this and 
his other worldly affairs, he feels comfortably prepared to leave the world, 
and when his agony commences, to have a lighted taper placed in his hand, 
his jaws bound up with a cloth, and his eyelids closed. The moment his 
pulse has stopped, all the pots, pans, jars, kettles, etc., in the house are 
turned upside down to prevent his soul from taking refuge in one of them, 
and great care is taken to prevent either man or animal—especially a cat or 
dog—from stepping across his body, as otherwise he would turn into a vam¬ 
pire, and be a continual nuisance and a danger to his family and the whole 
community. Within a few hours of death the body is buried, without any 
coffin, m a shallow grave, eighteen to twenty-four inches deep, and left 
there for three years, during which time many offerings of food and wine are 
placed upon it. At the end of the third year the bones of the dead man are 
dug up, carefully washed, put into a linen bag, laid before the episcopal 
throne, of which there is one in every village, blessed by the pope, and then 
finally buried for good. Thus the Bulgarian is well taken care of after his 
death, unless, indeed, there is any reason to believe that he has become a 
vampire. In that case the grave is opened and the body transfixed by a 
stake, or a nail is driven into his breast. If the body is very well preserved, 
then it is riddled with pistol shots, and the earth stamped down firmly upon 
it, or sometimes it is burnt to ashes by a fire made of thorn. 

Mourning Customs. —The ancients had queer ideas about mourning 
lor dead. The Egyptian women ran through the streets crying, with their 
bosoms exposed and their hair disordered. The Lycians regarded mourning 
as unmanly, and compelled men who went into mourning to put on female 
garments. In Greece, when a popular general died, the whole army cut off 
their hair and the manes of their horses. At the present day, the Arabian 
women stain their hands and feet with indigo, which they suffer to remain 
eight days. They also carefully abstain from milk during this time, on the 
ground that its white color does not accord with the gloom of their minds. 
In China, the mourning color is white. Mourning for a parent or husband is 
required there by law, under penalty of sixty blows and a year’s banish¬ 
ment. When an emperor dies, all his subjects let their hair grow for one 
hundred days. In the Feejee Islands, on the tenth day of mourning, the 
women scourge all the men except the highest chiefs. Another fashionable 
custom there requires the friends and relatives of the deceased to assemble 
on the fourth day after the funeral, and picture to themselves the amount 
of corruption the corpse has sustained by that time. In the Sandwich Is¬ 
lands persons desirous of going into mourning, paint the lower part of their 
faces black, and knock out their front teeth. 

Sicilian Funeral Customs. —In past ages a piece of money was put 
into the mouth of the corpse—a survival of the fare which Charon was 
bound to receive. A virgin has a palm branch and a crown in her coffin; a 
child a garland of flowers. It is the worst possible omen for a bridal pro- 


20 $ 


TRAVELS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ETC. 

cession to meet a funeral. It has to be averted by making the “ horns,” or 
“ le flche ” (thrusting the thumb between the first two fingers), or by 
putting a pomegranate before the door or in the window. At Piano de 
Greci, certain little loaves or bread cakes in the form of a cross are given to 
the poor on the day of a death. In Giacosa, behind the funeral procession 
comes an ass laden with food, which, after the burial, is distributed either 
in the open or under cover in some house. The Sicilian Albanians do not 
sit on chairs during the first days of mourning, but on the dead man’s mat¬ 
tress. In some houses all is thrown into intentional confusion—turned up¬ 
side down to mark the presence of death. Others put out the mattress to 
show that the invalid is dead; others again remake the bed as for marriage, 
placing on it the crucifix which the sick man had held in his hand when 
dying. Woe to those who let the candle go out while burning at the foot of 
the bed! On the first day of mourning there is only one of these corpse- 
lights; on the second day, two; on the third, three. Men and women sit 
round—the men covered up in their cloaks with a black ribbon around their 
throats, the women with their black mantels drawn closely over the head, 
all in deep mourning. Por the first nine days friends, also in strict deep 
mourning, throng the house to pay their formal visits of condolence. The 
mourners do not speak or look up, but sit there like statues and talk of the 
dead in solemn phrases and with bated breath, but entering into the 
minutest and sometimes most immodest details. The mourning lasts one or 
two years for parents, husband or wife and brothers and sisters; six months 
for grandparents and uncles and aunts; three months for a cousin. 

Cashmere Women _Cashmere has long been famous for its beauty. 

“ Who has not heard of the Yale of Cashmere ? ” sings a poet. It is an 
irregular oval, shut in by snow-clad mountains, with a rich soil, yielding 
flour, fruit and grain, with useful minerals—iron, copper, lead, plumbago. 
But neither its beauty nor its fertility could keep out war and pestilence. 
Scourged by these, the kingdom of Cashmere, of which the Yalley alone 
contained nearly a million of people, now sees all its provinces number only 
three-quarters of that amount. The Cashmerians are pre-eminent among 
Indian nations for their physical perfection. The men are tall, well-formed, 
robust and industrious, manufacturing shawls, guns, paper, lacquered ware 
and attar of roses. The women are famous for their beauty and fine com¬ 
plexion. They are a gay people, fond of pleasure, literature and poetry. 
The men are distinguished by their mode of wearing the turban. The women 
wear a red gown, with large, loose sleeves, a red fillet on the forehead, oyer 
which is thrown a white mantilla. The hair is collected in separate plaits, 
then gathered together, and a long tassel of black cotton is hung from it, 
almost down to the ankles. Cashmere was conquered by Akbar in 1586; by 
the Afghans in 1752; by the Sikhs in 1819; and by the English in 1846. 

Women in Tunis. —Women are kept much stricter in Tunis than in 
Egypt or Turkey. Moorish ladies of high standing never show themselves 
in the street; and there are thousands of them whose only walk duiing their 
whole lives has been from the house of their parents to that of their hus¬ 
bands. Poor women have to go out to make their purchases, and also to go 
to public baths, as they have none in their *wn houses; but they are veiled 
to such a degree, and enveloped in so many shawls, that you can scarcely 
see the tips of their fingers. The women of the middle classes also wear a 
dark, heavy silk handkerchief, and you only see their feet clothed in little 


204 CYCLOPEDIA OP. TfSDFUL KNOWLPDOP. 


slippers, either embroidered with gold or of patent leather, and perhaps a 
little bit of the calf, dressed in a snow-white stocking, ornamented with 
silver or golden clasps, which clink at every step like spurs. Woe be to the 
European who, in the presence of men, were to stare at a Moorish woman or 
accost her! The Moors are, both in respect of their religion and their 
women, the greatest fanatics; and to pursue a woman, or to enter a mosque, 
may cost one’s life to this day. 

The Land of the Midnight Sun.— Nothing strikes a stranger 

more forcibly, if he visits Sweden at the season of the year when the days 
are longest, than the absence of night. Dr. Baird relates some interesting 
facts. He arrived in Stockholm from Gottenburgh, four hundred miles dis¬ 
tant, in the morning, and in the afternoon went to see some friends. He 
returned about midnight, when it was as light as it is in England half an 
hour before sunset. You could see distinctly, but all was quiet in the 
streets; it seemed as if the inhabitants had gone away or were dead. The 
sun in June goes down in Stockholm a little before ten o’clock. There is a 
great illumination all night, as the sun passes round the earth toward the 
north pole; and the refraction of its rays is such that you can see to read at 
midnight without any artificial light. The first morning Dr. Baird awoke in 
Stockholm, he was surprised to see the sun shining in his room. He looked 
at his watch and found it was only three o’clock. The next time he awoke it 
was five o’clock, but there were persons in the street. There is a mountain at 
the head of Bothnia, where, on the 21st of June, the sun does not appear to 
go down at all. The steamboat goes up from Stockholm for the purpose of 
conveying those who are curious to witness the phenomenon. It occurs 
only one night. The sim reaches the horizon, you can see the whole face of 
it, and in five minutes more it begins to rise. At the North Cape, latitude 
seventy-two degrees, the sun does not go down for several weeks In June 
it would be about twenty-five degrees above the horizon at midnight. In 
the winter time the sun disappears and is not seen for weeks; then it comes 
and remains for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes, after which it descends, 
and finally does not set at all, but makes almost a circle around the 
heavens. Birds and animals take their accustomed rest at the usual hour, 
whether the sun goes down or not. 

A Tyrolese Custom —x n the mountains of Tyrol, it is the custom of 
the women and children to come out, when it is bedtime, a"nd sing their 
national songs until they hear their husbands, fathers and brothers answer 
them from the hills or on their return home. On the shore of the Adriatic 
such a custom prevails. There the wives of the fishermen come down about 
sunset and sing a melody. After singing the first stanza, they listen awhile 
for the answering strain from off the water, and continue to sing and listen 
till the well-known voices come borne on the tide, telling that the loved 
ones are almost home. 


THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED 



Niagara Falls.— The largest, grandest and most magnificent cataract 
in the world is the world-famous Falls of Niagara. The Niagara River, 
which flows northward from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forms the only out- 


NIAGARA FALLS FROM BELOW. 

let of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie, hence the entire flow of 
waters from these mammoth lakes must pass over the cataract. The river 
is about thirty-six miles in length, and its descent from the level of the one 
lake to that of the other is about three hundred and thirty-four feet. On 
issuing from Lake Erie, it is three-quarters of a mile broad; but as it flows 
on, it becomes several miles wide, making room for a number of islands, the 
largest of which, Grand Island, is twelve miles long, and from two to seven 
broad. At the foot of Grand Island, which reaches within ope apd a half 


















206 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


miles of the Falls of Niagara, the river is contracted to a breadth of two and 
a half miles, and grows narrower as it proceeds. By this, and by the de¬ 
scent in the channel, which is about sixty feet in the mile above the Falls, 
are produced the swift currents known as the Rapids, in which the river, 
notwithstanding its great depth, is perpetually white with foam. At the 
Falls, which are twenty-two miles from Lake Erie, the river is divided by 
an island containing about seventy-five acres, called Goat Island; but in 
consequence of a bend in the channel, by far the larger portion of the water 



THE HORSESHOE FALL, NIAGARA. 

is sent down by the Canadian side. On this side, therefore, is the grander 
cataract, which has been named the Horseshoe Fall, but no longer bears the 
name appropriately, as the precipice has been worn from a curved into a 
somewhat angular shape. This process of wearing away still goes on, a large 
projection on the Canadian bank, known as the Table Rock, having partly fallen 
off in 1863. The Horseshoe Fall is above six hundred yards in breadth, and 
about one hundred and fifty-four feet in height. The water is so deep that 
it retains its green color for some distance below the brow of the precipice; 
and it rushes over with such force, that it is thrown about fifty feet from the 
foot of the cliff. One may thus, havmg donned an oil-skin dress, enter two 









THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 


207 



or three yards behind the curved sheet of -water; but the spray is so blind¬ 
ing, the dm so deafening, and the current of air so strong, that it requires a 
tolerably calm nerve and firm foot. The separation caused by Goat Island 
leaves a large wall of rock between the Canadian and American Falls, the 
latter being again divided by an islet at a short distance from Goat Island. 
This fall is from eight to ten feet higher than the Horseshoe, but only about 
two hundred and twenty yards broad. A little above the Fall, the channel 
is divided by Bath Island, which is connected by bridges with Goat Island 
and the American shore. A small tower, approached from Goat Island, has 
been built on a rock over the brow of the Horseshoe Fall; and from this the 
finest view on the American side may be obtained, the Table Rock on the 
Canadian side giving the completest view of the entire cataract. The Falls 


can also be seen from below on both sides, and every facility is given for 
viewing them from all the best points, while magnificent hotels, Canadian 
and American, offer their inducements to the tourist to stay till he has re¬ 
ceived the full influence of the scenery. The river is crossed about two 
hundred or three hundred yards below the Falls, where it is twelve hun¬ 
dred yards broad. The current is lessened for about a mile, but increases 
again as the channel becomes narrower and the descent greater. Between 
three and four miles below the Falls, a stratum of rock runs across the di¬ 
rect course of the river, which, after forming a vast circular basin, with an 
impassable whirlpool, is forced away at right angles to its old channel. The 
celebrated wire suspension-bridge for the Great Western Railway, with a 
road beneath for vehicles and foot passengers, crosses the river one and a 
half miles below the fall; it is eight hundred feet long, forty broad, and two 
hundred feet above the surface of the water. We present illustrations of 
the American Fall, as seen from below, and of the Horseshoe Fall, 


RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 


208 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The Rapids of the St. Lawrence.— The St. Lawrence River, 
which flows from Lake Ontario to the sea, forming the outlet of the entire 
chain of great lakes in America, is remarkable for its beautiful scenery. 
Here are located the famous Thousand Islands, and the shores of the river 
throughout its entire length are picturesque in the extreme. From the 
Thousand Islands to Montreal a succession of rapids occur, the most 
famous of which are the Rapids of Lachine, a few miles above Mon¬ 
treal, of which our illustration is a faithful delineation. Large steamers 
pass over these Rapids, taking the course of the channel and descending 
within a few feet of the rocks on either side, and “ shooting the Rapids ” is 
an experience long to be remembered by the traveler. No boat can ascend 



FRANCONIA NOTCH, WHITE MOUNTAINS. 


the river above Montreal, but must pass through the canal which has been 
provided for this purpose. 

Franconia Notch, White Mountains.— The White Mountain 
group proper and the Franconia group are separated from each other by a 
table land varying from ten to twenty miles in breadth. Of the “ notches,” 
or passages rent through the solid granite of the mountains, there are five, 
those most celebrated being the White Mountain Notch, two miles in length 
and only twenty-two feet wide, and the Franconia Notch, which permits the 
passage of the Pemigewasset. The flume of the Franconia Notch is the 
most noted of those narrow waterways. Among the other objects of interest 
in the Franconia group is the “ Old Man of the Mountain.” At the base of 
the mountain lies a beautiful lakelet called Profile Lake. The White Moun¬ 
tains are famous for grand and beautiful scenery, 





THE WOULD ILLUSTRATED 


209 


Watkins Glen. —The famous Watkins Glen is located in Schuyler 
County, New York, at the head of Seneca Lake. It is a narrow gorge or 
defile, about three miles in length, cut hundreds of feet in depth in the 
rocky hills. It consists properly of a number of glens or sections, rising 



WATKINS GLEN. 


one above another and forming a series of rocky area , ’ da 

and grottoes, and forms the channel for a limpid stream, whmh ^scends 
from section to section by a myriad of cascades and rapi . 

Jail, Artist’s Dream, Cavern Cascade and Cathedral are most celebrat d,, 























210 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Fawn’s Leap, Catskill Xvlonntains.—'The Catskill Mountains, in 
Greene County, New York, are a part of the Appalachian system. The 
group runs nearly parallel with the Hudson River, from which the moun¬ 
tains are distant about eight miles. The region gained a world-wide 
celebrity during the lifetime of Washington Irving, who made it the 
scene of his most beautiful legends. The chief interest of the Catskills lies 
in the variety and beauty of their scenery. They present a multitude of 
picturesque objects, which have long made them a favorite resort of artists 
and other lovers of the grand and beautiful in nature. The highest peak is 
the Overlook Mountain, three thousand eight hundred feet above the sea 
level, from the summit of which may be obtained a grand view, stretching 
from the Green Mountains, in Vermont, to the highlands of West Point, and 



fawn’s leap, catskill mountains. 

including one hundred miles of the Hudson River valley. The Hunter 
Mountain, High Peak and Round Top are also high and commanding eleva¬ 
tions. The Kaaterskill Clove, a remarkable ravine five miles in length, lies 
between the lake and Round Top. “ The mountains divide like the cleft 
foot of a deer,” leaving a deep hollow into which the brook plunges over 
a cascade one hundred and eighty feet in height. This fall is called the 
“ Fawn’s Leap.” There are also many other beautiful cataracts in the 
Kaaterskill region. The recent completion of railroad lines leading to 
the very heart of the mountains, and the erection of several new and 
expensive hotels, has made the Catskills of late years more popular 
than ever. 













THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 211 

Trenton Palls, New York.— A series of six cataracts, within the 
distance of two miles, with an aggregate descent of three hundred and 
twelve feet, constitute the picturesque and romantic Trenton Falls, which are 
a part of the West Canada Creek, the main branch of the Mohawk Eiver. The 
stream flows through a narrow gorge from one to two hundred feet deep, and 
in a succession of beautiful cascades and cataracts the water plunges with 
great violence. Mr. J. David Williams, editor of “ America Illustrated,’ 5 
describes the Falls as follows: “ It is not a mere waterfall or series of water- 
tails. It is a gigantic millrace, running for three miles between walls of 
solid rock, nature’s masonry, twice as high as Trinity steeple, and in many 



TRENTON FALLS, NEW YORK. 


places almost as perpendicular. Through this gorge run the waters of 
West Canada Creek; now corkscrewing their way through a rocky path, water 
hewn; now precipitating themselves by a series of cascades into an amphi¬ 
theatre whose rugged sides of rock are clothed in leafy green; now flowing 
in a rapid stream over a bed as smooth, and composed of stones as regular 
and rectangular as those of a city sidewalk; now pouring over a rocky dam 
so straight and formal that you instinctively look for a sawmill at its base; 
now leaping down a two-storied cascade in a series of falls whose wondrous 
variety of beauty is beyond the power of pen or pencil to describe; now dart¬ 
ing over a bed of rough rocks which throw it into foam and eddies and 
waves that are like a miniature surf; now gathering all its volume into one 
concentrated column and plunging through a narrow gap, beating like a 
gigantic trip-hammer on the rocky bed beneath, finally to hurry swirled and 













212 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


twisted and writhed into innumerable forms through a narrow defile, to 
issue at last in a deep and to the eye an unfathomable pool of treacherous 
calm at the very edge and mouth of the stony chasm. * * * * At the point 
in the Falls where the greatest volume of water descends, the rocky walls 
on either side are much nearer each other than at other places, giving the 
fall at a distance the appearance of water rushing through a great flood¬ 
gate. The waters rush along with an impetuous and unnecessary haste that 
is thoroughly American—every drop is unmistakably native-born. The 
walls are almost perpendicular below the Falls, and in many places the sky 
is scarcely visible from the banks of the creek. There is a ladder built 
from the base of the great cataract to the plateau above it, and tourists can 
climb up and view the falls at the spot where the 
first descent begins. The spectacle here wit¬ 
nessed is more than compensation for the exer¬ 
tion.” * * * * 

The Bartholdi Statue.— The great Bar¬ 
tholdi statue, “ Liberty Enlightening the World,” 
erected upon Bedloe’s Island in New York Bay, 
was the gift of France to the American people. 
It is said that this gigantic work cost $250,000, the 
expense being borne by 250,000 Frenchmen of the 
middle class, each of whom contributed the 
sum of one dollar. Bartholdi, the sculptor, was 
eight years constructing the statue. The figure 
is made of hammered copper sheets, one-eighth 
of an inch thick. These are riveted together, 
and fastened to a four-sided iron frame which 
runs up through the center of the figure, and is 
firmly fixed to the pedestal. It is the largest 
statue of which any knowledge is preserved. 
The Colossus of Rhodes was said to be ninety 
feet high, the statue of “Bavaria,” at Munich, is 
sixty feet high. The height of the Bartholdi 
statue, including the pedestal and foundation, is 
305 feet. It towers above the Brooklyn Bridge 
pillars and the steeple of Trinity Church. It 
weighs 220 tons. Some estimate of the size of 
this colossal figure may be formed from the di¬ 
mensions of the forefinger. It is eight feet long, 
and four feet nine inches around at the second 
joint. The head is fourteen and a half feet high, 
and the nose three feet seven inches long. A man six feet tall standing 
upon the level of the lips, would just reach the eyebrows. Fifteen people 
may sit around the flame of the torch. A staircase ascends inside from the 
bottom of the statue quite up into the torch. There the climber can go 
outside to a circular balcony, with a railing, around the torch. The view 
here of New York harbor and city, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Hudson River 
and heights, the bay and the ocean, is one of the most magnificent in 
America. 

The Palisades of the Hudson River.— The Hudson River has been 
appropriately called the American Rhine from the picturesque and roman- 



THE BARTHOLDI STATUE. 


TEE WOULD ILLUSTRATED 


213 


tic character of its scenery. Its source is in the Adirondack Mountains and 
its mouth is New York Bay. It is navigable to Albany, a distance of 160 
miles. It winds its way gracefully among mountains, hills and forests, its 
surface smooth and bright as a mirror, forming a scene of Eden-like beauty. 
From Fort Lee, N. J., opposite the upper portion of Manhattan Island, to 
Piermont, N. Y., the west bank of the river consists of a precipitous rocky 
wall called the Palisades. This wall is of trap-rock, and rises almost straight 



and perpendicular from the river’3 brink to a height of from three to six 
hundred feet, and extends a distance of fifteen miles. The Hudson River 
was first explored in 1609 by Henry Hudson, an English navigator who 
ascended to the present site of Albany. Robert Fulton made his first sue- 
cessful experiments in steam navigation upon this river. During the 
war of the Revolution it was the scene of many important engagements, 
and some of the old Revolutionary fortifications and other structures are still 

preserved. 























214 CYCLOPAEDIA OP tJSEEUL KNOWLEDGE 


The Allegheny River. —This beautiful stream rises in the northern 
part of Pennsylania, from whence it flows to Pittsburgh, where it unites 
with the Monongahela to form the Ohio. It is navigable for nearly 200 
miles above Pittsburgh. For the greater part of its course it flows through 



THE ALLEGHENY RIVER. 


a great ravine, from one to two hundred feet below the level of the adjacent 
country. The scenery in some places is wild and rugged, but more gener¬ 
ally is picturesque and beautiful. The hills are clothed with a dense forest, 
and washed at their base by the limpid water. In all Pennsylvania there is 
no scenery more picturesque than that of the Allegheny River. 





THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED 


215 


Natural Bridge, Virginia.— In Rockbridge County, Virginia, is to 
be found one of the greatest curiosities in the United States. Spanning a 
small and unimportant creek (The Cedar) is this world’s wonder—the Natu¬ 
ral Bridge. This bridge consists of a stupendous arch of limestone rock, 
over a chasm fifty feet wide at its base, and ninety feet at the top. The 



NATURAE BRIDGE, VIRGINIA. 


height of the bridge above the stream, to the top, is two hundred and fifteen 
feet; its average width is eighty feet; its extreme length at top, ninety-three 
feet, and its thickness, from the under to the upper side, fifty-five feet. A 
clayey earth covers it to the depth of frcm four to six feet, and it possesses 
a natural parapet of rock at the sides, rendered firm by rocks and trees. 
The view from above is grand, but the best prospect is obtained from be¬ 
neath, where the astonished spectator has full scope to grasp, at a single 
glance, this magnificent work of nature. Tho beauty, elevation, and light- 




























216 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USE PUL KNOWLEDGE. 

ncsa of the arch present a striking instance of the graceful in combination 
with the sublime. 

Gothic Chapel, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.— The Mammoth 

Cave is in Edmonson County, Kentucky. It extends nine miles under¬ 
ground, and embraces a great variety of subterranean chambers. The 



GOTHIC CHAPEL, MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY. 


Gothic Chapel is in what is known as the Gothic Arcade, and is entered from 
the main cave by ascending a flight of steps some fifteen feet in height. The 
Chapel is a large room, the ceiling of which appears to be supported by 
gigantic stalactites, which extend to the floor. When a number of lamps 
are hung upon these columns, or carried in the hands of visitors, the Chapel 
presents a beautiful appearance. There are many circumstances to prove 
that the Mammoth Cave is part of the course of a subterranean river which 
existed in a former condition of the surface. Geologists assign a million 
years as the approximate term for the production of this series of caves. 







THE WOULD ILLUSTRATED 


217 


Silver Springs, Florida.— The St. Johns River is said to he in many 
respect* the most remarkable in North America. It has its source in the 
Everglades of Central and Southern Florida; and after running due north 
for two hundred miles, it abruptly turns eastward to the ocean. Some dis¬ 
tance up this strange river is the famed Silver Springs, a great, deep and 
surprisingly clear basin of water, which boils up from the bowels of the 
earth with much force, forming a river one hundred feet in width, and which, 
in the course of seven miles, forms a junction with the Ocklawaha. This 
spring is seventy feet deep, as clear as crystal, and remarkably fresh and 



SILVER SPRINGS, FLORIDA. 

cool. “ The steamboat on the surface,” writes Mr. Louis M. Babcock, 
editor of “ Our American Resorts,” describing the Silver Springs, “ rests on 
an inverted fac simile, and every tree, twig, vine and rock is reproduced in 
the beautiful pool. The floor of'this basin is silver sand, studded with curi¬ 
ous figures in pale, green-tinted lime crystals. A row across the pool is 
ever to be remembered. Every object that has been dropped into the water 
by preceding visitors lies in the silver setting, a rich emerald gem. At one 
place a barely discernible bubbling points out the spot from which the water 
gushes out, thousands of gallons, eveiy moment. A stone dropped toward 
the slight ledge of limestone rock twenty-five feet below, is suddenly thrown 
in a curved line nearly to the surface by the rush of the spring from under 
the rock.” 



















218 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Silver Cascade, St. Anthony’s Palls.—The Falls of St. Anthony, in 

Minnesota, received their name from Father Louis Hennepin, a French mis¬ 
sionary, by whom they were discovered in 1680. The entire river, which 
exceeds two hundred and fifty yards in width, falls perpendicularly a dis- 



SILVER CASCADE, ST. ANTHONY’S FALLS. 


tance of thirty feet, forming a beautiful cataract. The rapids below, in a 
space of three hundred yards, render the descent considerably greater, so 
that, when viewed from a distance, the falls appear much higher than they 
really are. The surrounding country is very picturesque. A short distance 
below the falls is a small island, where grow many large oak trees, upon 
which hundreds of eagles build their nests. The Silver Cascade shown in 
our illustration is a very beautiful fall, within easy driving distance from 
Minneapolis. 













THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 219 

Grand Canon of the Colorado.— The scenery of the Eocky Moun¬ 
tains is not surpassed in grandeur and magnificence by the famous Alps of 
Switzerland. In fact, in the matter of their wonderful river canons or ravines 



GRAND CANON OF THE COLORADO. 


they have no parallel in any part of the world. These canons are cut thou¬ 
sands of feet into the heart of the mountains, and through this dark and 
rocky gorge the turbulent river winds its way. The Grand Canon of the 
Colorado is two hundred and forty miles long, and from two thousand five 
hundred to four thousand feet deep. Its walls are of solid rock, in some 
places nearly perpendicular, and almost entirely shutting out the light of day. 



220 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Great Palls of the Missouri River, Montana.— The Missouri 
River is not only the chief affluent of the Mississippi, but the largest trib¬ 
utary stream in the world. It is three thousand and ninety-six miles long, 
and is navigable at high water to the Great Falls, two thousand five hun¬ 
dred and forty miles from the Mississippi. The upper Missouri is remark- 



GREAT FALLS OF THE MISSOURI RIVER, MONTANA. 


able for its scenery. At a distance of four hundred and eleven miles from 
its source, it flows through a gorge five and three-quarter miles in length 
between perpendicular walls one thousand two hundred feet high and four 
hundred and fifty feet apart. At the Great Falls, one hundred and ten miles 
below, the river falls three hundred and fifty-seven feet in a series ot ranids 
and cascades extending over a distance of sixteen and one-half miles 
The largest fall is eighty-seven feet high, and the scenery is full of 


















TEE WORLD ILLUSTRATED . 


221 


The Yellowstone Park.— The Yellowstone River rises in a beautiful 
lake of the same name high up in the Rocky Mountains, and receiving nu¬ 
merous branches from the south, flows northeasterly through the territory 
of Montana, and empties into the Missouri River, in the northwest part of 
Dakota Territory. It is eight hundred yards wide at its mouth, one .thou¬ 
sand miles long, and navigable seven hundred or eight hundred miles. The 
region of the Yellowstone and its source was for the first time explored by 
parties from the United States in 1870 and 1871, and seems to be one of the 
most wonderful spots on the earth. Making their way up the river through 
the grand scenery of the Rocky Mountains, the explorers came to a district 
of a square mile in area, filled with hot springs in active operation, which 
cover the hillsides with snowy white deposit like a frozen cascade. Three 
or four miles around were occupied by springs which have ceased to flow. 
They are about six thousand feet above the sea, and are much resorted to 
by invalids. This was but the beginning of the wonders. Next they came 
to a terrific rift, two thousand feet in depth, with a river rolling in its deeps, 



GREAT SPRINGS, YELLOWSTONE PARK. 

“ a grand, gloomy, terrible place.” At the head of this canon are the 
Tower Falls, with a sheer descent of four hundred feet. The Grand Canon, 
however, throws this into the shade. This fearful abyss is three thousand 
feet in perpendicular height, and to one looking up from the bottom, stars 
are visible in broad daylight. The ravine is full of hot springs of sulphur, 
sulphate of copper, alum, steam jets in endless variety, some of most pecul¬ 
iar form The grandeur of the canon is at once heightened and diversified 
by the Upper and Lower Falls; the latter one unbroken symmetrical ex¬ 
panse, three hundred and fifty feet in height. Between this fall and the 
lake lies a region full of boiling springs and craters, with two hills three 
hundred feet high, formed wholly of the sinter thrown from the springs, one 
of which is seventy feet long by forty broad. Still farther on they came to 
a valley containing about one thousand five hundred geysers, some throw¬ 
ing up immense columns of water to the height of more than two hundred 
feet-a stupendous spectacle! The lake from which the river issues is 
about three hundred square miles in area, is situated seven thousand four 
hundred and twenty-seven feet above the level of the sea, and is described 
as “ the gem to which all the other wonders form the setting. In one sec- 











222 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 


tion there is an extinct geyser, which from its old eruptions has built up a 
cone of lime forty-two feet high and twenty-two feet in diameter at the base. 
This cone has been called “ The Cap of Liberty.” The wonderful Yellow¬ 
stone region has been set apart by the government of the United States as 
a permanent public park, and is called the Yellowstone National Park. 


Salt Lake, Utah —Four barrels of water of the Great Salt Lake will 

leave after evapo¬ 
ration nearly a 
barrel of salt. The 
lake was discov¬ 
ered in the year 
1850, and no outlet 
has yet been as¬ 
certained. Four or 
five large streams 
empty themselves 
into it, and the fact 
of it still retaining 
its saline proper¬ 
ties seems to point 
to the conclusion 
that there exists 
some secret saline 
deposits over 
which the waters 
flow, and thus they 
continue salt—for 
though the lake 
may be the residue 
of an immense sea 
which once cov¬ 
ered the whole of that region, yet by its 
continuing so salt, with the amount of 
fresh water poured into it daily, the idea 
of the existence of some such deposit from 
which it receives its supply seems to be 
only too probable. There are no fish in the 
lake, but myriads of small flies cover its 
surface. The buoyancy of the water is so 
great that it is not at all an easy matter 
libekty cap, Yellowstone pabk. to drown in it. The entire length of Salt 

Lake is eighty-five miles. Compared with 
the Dead Sea, Salt Lake is longer by forty-three miles, and broader by 
thirty-five miles. 



The Yosemite Valley.— One hundred and forty miles east of San 
Francisco, on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, thirty miles from 
their summit, and at an elevation of over four thousand feet above 
the level of the sea, lies the pride of California, the boast of the United 
States, and one of the great wonders of the world—the Yosemite Valley. 
It is about the center of the State, and is a nearly level area some six miles 
long and half a mile to a mile wide. It is almost a mile in perpendicu- 


















223 


THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 

lar depth below the general level of the adjacent region, and is enclosed in 
frowning granite walls rising with almost precipitous faces to the astonishing 
height of from three 
thousand to six 
thousand feet. From 
the brow of the prec¬ 
ipice, here and there, 
spring streams of 
water which form 
cataracts of a love¬ 
liness unknown else¬ 
where among moun¬ 
tain scenery. The 
unparalleled charac¬ 
teristic of the Yosem- 
ite is its incredible 
compactness. A1 - 
most one single coup 
d'cett can cover it. 

Within a minute 
space it encloses un¬ 
equaled wonders. 

It is one vast flower 
garden; plants, 
shrubs, flowers of 
every lovely form 
and hue cover the 
ground like a carpet. 

The eye is dazzled 
with color. The air 
is heavy with fra¬ 
grance. The stately 
pines that fringe the 
valley between the 
tremendous cliffs, 
look like daisies in 
the midst of pines. 

The warder of the 
Valley is the moun¬ 
tain El Capitan. 

Though not so high 
by half a mile as 
some of its neigh¬ 
bors, it is more no¬ 
ticeable from its iso¬ 
lation and its per¬ 
pendicular sides, 
down which one 

could almost drop a . 

plummet from the top. It is probably the most square-cut and imposmg 
face of rock in the world. Opposite El Capitan is that beautiful fall, the 
Bridal Veil, where the creek leaps from the sheer edge of the cliff nine hun¬ 
dred feet into the valley below, being dispersed in mist and vanishing in 



GREAT GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK. 







224 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 



spray long before it reaches its rocky bed. Falling behind one high shoulder 
of El Capitan is the Virgin’s Tears, dropping one thousand feet. Not far 
from here are the sculptured piles of granite, known as the Cathedral Rock, 
the Spires, the Three Brothers, the Sentinel, etc., rising like vast cathedrals 
to heaven. A little farther up the valley are the 
Yosemite Falls, the most remarkable feature ol this 
scenery, having a total plunge of two thousand six 
hundred feet. No falls in the known world can be 
compared with these for height and sublimity. The 
Halfdome is the loftiest mountain of the Yosemite 
group proper, rising to the height of four thousand 


BRIDAL VEIL FALL, YOSEMITE VALLEY. 


seven hundred and thirty-seven feet above the valley, or nine thousand feet 
above the sea. We have not space to enumerate a tenth part of the marvels 
of this awe-inspiring and romantic valley, and the only way the tourist can 
get an adequate conception of them is by climbing some of the numerous 
“ trails ” that have been worn in their sides from bottom to top. This can 
be done on foot, or, by almost all trails, on a mule. The bridle-paths are 
firm and well made. 








TEE WOULD ILLUSTRATED 


225 

The Summit of the Sierras.— The Sierra Nevada Mountains have 
been appropriately styled the California Alps. Their grandeur is seen in 
the fact that throughout the extent of the range, four hundred and fifty miles, 
there is not a pass lower than eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
It is a grand and exciting ride on the Pacific Railroad down the Sierras, from 
Summit to Colfax; and here, as at all the passes, especially at the head, 
the scenery is of the wildest and grandest description—lofty peaks massed 
together and laden around their bases with ice and snow; chains of glacier 
lakes, cascading streams in endless variety, with glorious views eastward 
and westward. As he proceeds down the mountains the eye of the tourist 
is greeted with every variety of mountain scenery, giving a quick succes- 



THE SUMMIT OF THE SIERRAS. 

sion of magnificent views and striking contrasts—fearful chasms and tor¬ 
tuous canons, towering peaks, giant pines and diminutive manzanitas, 
sparkling creeks, rushing rivers and romantic cascades, gloomy gorges 
and fruit-laden orchards, and woven through all a new and bold civilization 
—huge smelting furnaces, thundering quartz mills, old placer diggings 
and new mines tunneling the alabaster. On every hand we see the* 
miner’s work. Long flumes carry off the washed gravel and retain the 
gold; turbulent ditches bear the debris to the plains below; here is a hose 
playing against the hillside and bringing down acres of “pay dirt.” All 
is life, energy, activity. In a run of fifty miles upon this railroad the descent 
is more than six thousand feet. 










226 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Cape Horn, in the Sierras.— From the hour the traveler leaves 
Omaha l'or California, he finds everything new, curious and wonderful; the 
plains, with their buffalo, antelope and prairie dogs; the mountains, which, 
as you approach Cheyenne, lift up their glorious snow-clad summits; the 
gr im scenery of the canons and gorges; the indescribable loveliness and 
beauty of the mountain range which shelters Salt Lake City; the extended 
alkali and sage brush plain; the snow sheds which protect the Central 
Pacific as you ascend the Sierras, and, on the morning of the last day of 
your journey, the grand and exciting rush down the Sierras from Summit 
to Colfax, winding around Cape Horn and half a hundred more precipitous 
cliffs, down which you look out of the open “ observation car ” as you sweep 



CAPE HORN, IN THE SIERRAS. 

from a height of seven thousand feet to a level of two thousand five hundred 
feet in a ride of two hours and a half. A grander or more exhilarating ride 
than this cannot be found in the world, the scenery is so varied, novel 
and magnificent. 

In Arctic Seas.-—The manifestations of nature in the Arctic region are 
magnificent and marvelous. The ice assumes many fantastic shapes, at 
times presenting all the colors of the rainbow. The interior of Greenland is 
covered with ice and snow to a great depth. This vast mass is constantly 
moving towards the water, and when it reaches the edge of the land it 
tumbles over into the sea, breaking off in immense fragments, Our illustra- 









THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 


227 


tion represents a ship in danger of being crushed by the iceberg just 
tumbling over into the sea. 

Tlie Catacombs of Rome —The catacombs of Rome are believed to 
be of great antiquity, they probably having been hewn long before Romulus 
and Remus founded Rome. In the course of time they were extended so 
that every one of the seven hills on which the city stood was perforated and 
honey-combed by passages, dark galleries, low corridors, and vaulted halls. 
What greatly facilitated the work was the light and soft nature of the 
material to be quarried, and the workmen were thus enabled to shape the 
shafts and galleries as they pleased. As the city grew in extent and wealth 



IN ARCTIC SEAS. 


these quarries were enlarged and new ones opened. The material was 
used in building houses and temples. But little is to be gleaned from the 
ancient writers as to the uses to which these subterranean recesses were 
put when they ceased to be quarries. Horace says of the caverns under 
the Esquiline Hill that it “ was the common sepulchre of the miserable 
plebeians.” The catacombs were crowded with the Christians during the 
persecutions under Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Adrian, Severus, Maximinus 
and Diocletian, who found tliOTe safety from the tyranny of the Roman 
pagans. Each catacomb forms a network of passages, or galleries, inter¬ 
secting each other at right angles, but sometimes diverging from a common 
center; these galleries, or passages, are usually about eight feet high, and 




228 G Y CL 0 FEUDIA 0 F US EFUL KX ~ ,<jlE1)GE. 

from three to five feet wide. The graven are iu tiers on tl»o sides, and when 
undisturbed are found closed with marble slabs or tiles^ bn which are often 
inscriptions or Christian emblems. It has been estimated that the entire 
length of the catacombs is not less than five hundred and eighty miles, and 
that they contain not less than six million bodies. Prom being the refuge of 
persecuted Christians, they became, about the thirteenth century, the hiding 
places of outlaws and assassins, who were, however, finally driven out or 


LOCH KATRINE. 

the entrances to their retreats closed. Many interesting and valuable boolis 
have been written on the catacombs, and some have spent a lifetime iu 
investigating these wonderful caverns. 

Loch Katrine.—Of all the Scottish lalces, so famous in song and story, 
none is so widely celebrated as Loch Katrine, which is situated near the 
southwest border of Perthshire. It is eight miles in length, and three- 
quarters of a mil© in mean breadth. Its greatest depth is seventy-eight 



















THE WOULD ILL tTSTRA TED. m 

fathoms, and its height above the sea about three hundred and seventy feet. 
Its shape is serpentine, and displays great variety of shore and background. 
Ben Yenue and Ben An are on its banks. It contains several islets, one of 
which, Ellen’s Isle, is the center of the action of the “Lady of the Lake.” 
Several also of Wordsworth’s lyrics were written on subjects suggested in 
this locality. The waters of the lake are remarkably pure, and it forms the 
water supply of the city of Glasgow. 

Edinburgdi Castle. —No city in the world is more picturesque than 
Edinburgh. Its site and structure combine to make it unique. It is a city 
of hills and valleys. When you are there everybody talks of the castle. 


EDINBURGH CASTLE. 

You cannot forget it if you would, for it dominates everything and is the 
heart of everything. Castle Rock, as the site of the Castle is called, is some 
seven hundred feet in circumference, and on three sides it is just bare rock, 
so precipitous that foot of man could hardly scale it. Accessible only on one 
side, a place more perfectly adapted for a fortress can scarcely be 
imagined. The old gray Castle itself is one of the most picturesque of 
buildings. Whether you see it at sunrise, at high noon, in the tender 
twilight time,. or when the pale moon visits it, it is alike beautiful; 
but the most impressive view is obtained at sunset, when the valley is in 
shadow, the glow of the setting sun resting on the old gray Castle, making 
its windows flame like opals. 















230 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSPPUL KKOWLPDCP. 

Melrose Abbey.— Melrose is a pleasant village at tlae foot of the 
Eildon Hills, on the south bank of the Tweed. It is famous for the ruins ol 
its noble Cistercian Abbey, founded by King David I, in 1136. The original 
pile having been destroyed during the wars of the Succession, the mon¬ 
astery began to be rebuilt about 1326. The work was helped by large 
grants from King Robert Bruce and his son, King David II, but proceeded 
so slowly that it was scarcely finished at the Reformation, in the middle of 



MELROSE ABBEY. 


the sixteenth century. It was in the Second Pointed style, with one or two 
approaches to Third Pointed, and was beyond doubt the most beautiful 
structure of which Scotland could boast in the middle ages. What now 
remains are the chief portions of the conventional church, measuring 
two hundred and fifty-one feet in length, and some fragments of the 
cloister, which would seem to have been a square one hundred and 
fifty feet deep. The tracery and carvings are scarcely surpassed by any 
in England, 




















THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 231 

Alpine Peaks.—The famous Alps, the most extensive system of lofty 
mountains in Europe, raise their giant masses on a basis of ninety thousand 
square miles. They extend over the greater portion of Switzerland, and 
into France, Italy, Austria and Bavaria. The highest peaks are Mont Blanc, 
fifteen thousand seven hundred and forty-four feet; Monte Kosa, fifteen 
thousand one hundred and fifty-one feet, and Mont Cervin, fourteen thou- 


AEPINE PEAKS. 

sand eight hundred and thirty-six feet. The summits of these mountains 
are covered with perpetual snow. In the lowlands of the Alpine region 
there are many beautiful lakes and rivers. The scenery is wild and im¬ 
pressive, and thousands of travelers annually sojourn in the beautiful Swiss 
villages. Not the least charm of the locality is the picturesque life of the 
herdsmen and farmers, who ply their vocations amid scenes possessing a 
grandeur and beauty Buch as no artist has succeeded in faithfully por¬ 
traying. 


232 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSDFVL KttOWLDDCP. 

Paris.— “ I know no walks in the world so fascinating,” writes Louise 
Chandler Moulton, “ as a ramble through the Garden of the Tuileries, across 
the Place de la Concorde, and on into the Champs Elysees. I have taken 
this walk as a soft spring day was drawing to its close. The sky was all 
rose and gold, and the distances were softly purple in the evening glow. 
There was a charm in the scene, half-pensive and altogether tender, which 
I can never put into words. But it is much gayer in the afternoon. All the 
little out-door theatres are in full blast then, and there are several of them 
in the Garden of the Tuileries, and several more in the Champs Elysees. 
These theatres are for the children, and the performers are not people, but 
marionettes, or puppets. There is the merry-go-round, too, with its funny 
little wooden ponies, and its queer little chariots, and the great strong Nor¬ 
man horses drawing the whole thing. How it carries me back to a summer 



GARDEN OF THE TUILERIES, PARIS. 


night at Etretat, and a crowd of peasants dancing a slow, fantastic dance in 
the pale and fitful moonlight, and pausing now and then to take a tuna in 
just such a merry-go-round as this. I think I prefer the Garden of the Tui¬ 
leries and the Champs Elysees to the Bois de Boulogne; and yet when I am 
in the Bois, I think I prefer that to anything else. It is so bright and gay, 
this place which was a noble forest till most of the trees were cut down in 
the evil days of 1870 and ’71. But still it is one of the finest parks in the 
world, and between three and four in the afternoon you may see there the 
fashion and beauty of Paris. There are two artificial lakes in the Bois, one 
two-thirds and the other a quarter of a mile in length. In the largest of 
these lakes are two islands, and on one of them is a cafe, in the form of a 








233 


r THE WORLD ILLUSTRATED. 

Swiss chalet. You are taken from the mainland to this picturesque cafe for 
four cents, and you find there all sorts of dainty temptations in the way of 
eating and drinking. At one end of the Bois de Boulogne is an enclosed 
portion called the Jardin d’Acclimatation, a garden the purpose of which is 
to acclimatize in France birds, animals and plants from every quarter of the 
globe. The varieties of dogs alone seem endless, and as for birds, I had 
never dreamed of anything so various and so beautiful as this collection. 
There is a monkey-house, and there are carriages for children to ride in, 
some drawn by ostriches, and others by zebras, and I know not bow many 
strange animals. Also there are amiable elephants, on whose backs you 



CHAMPS ELYSEES, PAEIS. 


may ride. It was a dream of delight to be there even to me, and I could 
fancy what it must be to the children. It is no wonder that they flock to it, 
since it would be impossible to conceive any spot on earth where more is 
combined to rejoice the wonder-loving, pleasure-loving heart of childhood.” 

Strasburg* and Its Cathedral.—The eminent city of Strasburg, one 
of the most important towns in what travelers sometimes call French Ger¬ 
many, is built on an Island in the river Ill, which connects with the Bhme. 
Strasburg is a place of great wealth, and boasts of many learned and chari¬ 
table institutions, and it has given to the world many eminent men in almost 
every department of knowledge. But the chief attraction of the city is its 
purely gothic cathedral, the great spire of which soars four hundred and 
sixty-eight feet in the air—the tallest spire in the world, and in altitude but 































234 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


fourteen feet below the apex of the pyramid of Cheops. The towers and 
spire, as well as the body of the building, are of dark-red sandstone, which 
is found in abundance in the neighborhood. Although hemmed in by nar¬ 
row streets, and tall houses, the Cathedral does not impress the reader with 

heaviness, and the 
stonework of the 
spire is remarkable 
for the cleverness of 
its carvings, tra¬ 
ceries and beauty of 
detail. The stone of 
the spire is cut 
rather to resemble 
iron castings or 
carved oak than 
chiseled stone. The 
whole is carefully 
tied together with 
iron rods, bars, 
clamps and bolts, so 
as to give it addi¬ 
tional strength to re¬ 
sist the action of the 
wind. Shoulditever 
fall, engineers and 
architects say it will 
be because of an 
earthquake. The 
western facade of 
the building is not 
completed as the 
architect designed it 
should be. He died 
a hundred years be¬ 
fore the building 
was consecrated. 
Four centuries have 
elapsed since the 
tower was com¬ 
pleted, and it looks 
as fresh as the day 
the capstone was 
put on it. The in¬ 
terior of the Stras- 
burg Cathedral cor¬ 
responds to its ex¬ 
terior in finish and design. It is celebrated for its magnificent colored glass 
windows, which were made in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 



VESUVIUS IN ERUPTION. 


Vesuvius in Eruption.— Vesuvius is a celebrated volcano of Italy, 
six miles east of the city of Naples. It has two summits. Its perpendicular 
height is but three thousand seven hundred feet, though the ascent from the 
base to the summit comprises a distance of three Italian miles. One side of 





















TBR WORLD ILL VSTRA TED. 235 

the mountain is fertile and well cultivated, producing an abundance of vines; 
but the south and west sides are entirely covered with cinders and ashes, 
while a sulphurous smoke constantly issues from the top, sometimes at¬ 
tended with the most violent explosions, when huge stones and great masses 
of lava are emitted. The first eruption recorded in history took place in the 
year 79. In 1806 a violent eruption occurred, when a bright flame arose 
from the mountain top to the height of six hundred feet. 

Venice —Venice is a seaport city in Austrian Italy. The coast is a long 
and narrow belt of land, through a number of openings in which the waters 
of the Adriatic make their way between the mainland and the belt, and form 
a lagoon from twenty-five to thirty miles long and about five miles broad. 



VENICE. 


Into seventy-two little islands in this lagoon piles have been driven, and upon 
them Venice has been built, so that from any point of view the city seems to 
be floating on the water. The city is a little more than two miles long, one 
and a half broad, and about six in circuit. It is divided into two unequal 
parts by the Grand Canal, which runs through it in the form of an S re¬ 
versed; and it is also traversed by one hundred and forty-six smaller canals. 
These canals are crossed by three hundred and sixty bridges; but over the 
Grand Canal there is but one—the Rialto. The Grand Canal varies in 
breadth, and on both sides is lined by magnificent buildings, many of them 
immediately on the water’s edge, so that people step from them into the 
gondolas, of which there are said to be more than four thousand. The pub¬ 
lic buildings are splendid and numerous. There is but one Venice in all the 
world, and it is a city of enchantment. Imagine a great populous city where 
the rumble of wheels is never heard, and not a single horse is within its 
limits. All Venice is out of doors as soon as the sun has set. 
























236 CYCLOPEDIA OP PSP PUL KKOWLPDOP. 


The Vatican. —Tlie word is often used, but there are many who do 
not understand its import. The term refers to a collection of buildings on 
one of the seven hills of Borne, which covers a space of one thousand two 
hundred feet in length, and one thousand feet in breadth. It is built on the 
spot once occupied by the garden of the cruel Nero. It owes its origin to 
the Bishop of Borne, who, in the early part of the sixth century, erected an 
humble residence on its site. About the year 1160, Pope Eugenius rebuilt 
it on a magnificent scale. Innocent II, a few years afterward, gave it up as 
a lodging to Peter II, King of Aragon. In 1305 Clement V, at the instigation 
of the King of France, removed the Papal See from Borne to Avignon, whera 
the Yatican remained in a condition of obscurity and neglect for more than 
seventy years. But soon after the return of the Pontifical Court to Borne, 
an event which had been so earnestly prayed for by poor Petrarch, and 
which finally took place in 1576, the Yatican was put in a state of repair; 
again enlarged, and it was thenceforward considered a3 the regular palaca 
and residence of the popes, who, one after the other, added fresh buildings 
lo it, and gradually encircled it with antiquities, statues, pictures, and 
books, until it became the richest depository in the world. The library of 
the Yatican was commenced one thousand four hundred years ago. It con¬ 
tains forty thousand manuscripts, among which are some by Pliny, St. 
Thomas, St. Charles Borromeo, and many Hebrew, Syrian, Arabian, and 
Armenian Bibles. The whole of the immense buildings composing the Yat¬ 
ican is filled with statues found beneath the ruins of ancient Borne, with 
paintings by the masters, and with curious medals and antiquities of almost 
every description. When it is known that there have been exhumed more 
than seventy thousand statues from the ruined temples and palaces of 
Borne, the reader can form some idea of the richness of the Yatican. 

Vienna. —The capital of the Austrian Empire stands on a plain at th® 
foot of the last hills of the Wiener Wald, which forms the eastern extremity 
of the Alps. East of it extends a vast plain, as far as the eye can see, away 
lo the Carpathians, which are visible on a clear day in the distance. An 
arm of the Danube (called a canal) y asses along the northeast side of the 
city, and separates it from the suburb of Leopoldstadt. Into this arm flows 
the stream called the "Wien, from which the city takes its name. Vienna, 
consists of the old city or inner town, called the Sladt, with narrow and ir¬ 
regular streets, and of a circle of suburbs, nine in number, completely sur¬ 
rounding it. Around the Sladt, and separating it from the suburbs, is a ring 
space upon which were formerly the fortifications, leveled in 1858. This 
space is now being rapidly covered with buildings, of which the principal 
form part of the Bingstrasse, a handsome boulevard, in many places seventy 
yards wide. Unlike most other European cities, the old part of the city is 
the most fashionable. In the Sladt are the palaces of the emperor and of 
some of the principal nobility, many stately mansions, the public offices, 
the finest churches, most of the museums and public collections, the col¬ 
leges, the exchange, and the best stores. The suburbs are laid out in wide 
streets, many of which, being unpaved, are extremely dusty in summer and 
very muddy in winter. As a rule, the houses are let in “ flats,” almost the 
only exception to this being the palaces of the higher nobility; and in some 
cases even these consist only of the two lower stories of the building. Among 
the principal squares are the Josephsplatz and the Burghof (the latter the 
court of the palace), the outer Burgplatz i in which §tands the Burgthor , the 
Neuer Markt, am and Freiung , 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFAC¬ 
TURES. 


Printing’. —The art of printing from movable types is of comparatively 
modern origin, only four hundred years having elapsed since the first book 
printed in this manner was issued from the press. The ancients printed 
from engraved blocks, and this method is preserved by the Chinese to this 
day. The credit of discov¬ 
ering the simple yet mar¬ 
velous art of printing from 
movable types is contested 
by the Dutch in favor of 
Lawrence Coster, between 
1420 and 1426, and by the 
Germans on behalf of Jo- 
ha n n Gutenberg. The 
types first employed were 
of wood, but soon the prac¬ 
tice of casting them in metal 
was introduced. Guten¬ 
berg succeeded in printing 
a Bible between 1450 and 
1455. 

All the types used in 
printing offices are sorted 
in cases, or shallow boxes, 
with divisions. These are 
of two kinds—the / operand compositor at work. 

lower case, the latter lying 

nearest to the compositor. In the upper case are placed all the capitals, 
small capitals, accented letters, a few of the points, and characters used as 
references. In the lower case are all the small letters, figures, the remain¬ 
der of the points and spaces to place between the words. In the lower, no 
alphabetical arrangement is preserved; each letter has a larger or smaller 
box allotted to it according as it is more or less frequently required, and all 
those letters most in request are placed at the nearest convenient distance 
to the compositor. Placing the copy or manuscript before him on the upper 
case, and standing in front of the lower case, the compositor holds in his left 
hand a little iron tray called a composing stick. One by one he lifts and 
puts the letters of each word and sentence, and the appropriate points and 
spaces, into his stick, securing each with the thumb of his left hand, and 
placing them side by side from left to right along the line. On reaching the 
end of a line he rearranges the spaces, so as to make it exactly full and se¬ 
cure a uniform separation of the words. When the workman has set up as 
many lines as his stick will hold, he* lifts them out and places them upon an 



























































238 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


elongated tray called a galley , and when the galley ia full an impression or 
proof of the types is taken, which goes to the proof-reader, whose duty it is 
to mark upon the margins thereof such errors as may have been made by 
the compositor. After these have been corrected, the matter is divided 



into pages of the desired size, head-lines and numerals are added, the pages 
are secured in an iron frame or chase, and, after the matter is again care¬ 
fully read and corrected, the form is ready for the pressman or electrotyper, 
as the case may be. 

In no department of human industry has there been a more signal ad- 



























































USEFUL ALTS A EL M AN UF AC TUBES. 239 


printing machine may he thus briefly described: A reel of tightly-rolled 
paper, just as it leaves the mill, is placed at one end of the machine, is 
damped while passing between small cylinders, and is then led between the 
first and second of four cylinders, placed one above the other* where it re¬ 
ceives its first impression from the stereotype cast of the first cylinder. The 



vanccment than in the manufacture of the printing press, and the improved 
newspaper press of the present day would seem to be well-nigh perfect. 
To attempt a description of the many and various kinds of presses in use 
for the different styles of printing would be quite impossible within the 
limits allotted to this article, but the operation of a modern newspaper 
















































240 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 


paper then returns backward between the second and third cylinders; and 
passing forward again between the third and fourth, receives on its other 
side the second impression from the stereotype plates of the lowest cylinder. 
The roll is next cut into sheets, and the sheets numbered by an index. 
Carried up to the top of the machine, the sheet descends perpendicularly, 



and is thrown alternately backwards and forwards on to boards held by 
two lads. These, with the striker, who starts the machine, are the sole 
attendants necessary. The paper travels at the rate of one thousand feet 
per minute, and the finished sheets are delivered ^t the rate of twelve 
thousand copies and upwards per hour. 



















































241 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 

Stereotyping*.— The art of fabricating metal plates resembling pages 
of type, from which impressions may he taken as in letter-press printing, is 
termed stereotyping. This process is not employed where only a definite 
and moderate number of impressions of any work are required. Its chief 
value consists in its availableness for future impressions contingent on the 
renewed demand for copies; but it is also of importance in duplicating the 
means of taking large impressions quickly. Briefly the process is as follows: 
The page of type is laid on a smooth iron table, face upward; a little flue oil 
is brushed over it, to prevent the liquid stucco from adhering; the stucco to 
the consistency of cream is now poured over the face of the page, and 
straightened over it in the process of hardening; when hardened, the cake 
of stucco is lifted off, and is seen 
to be a perfect mold of the types. 

The cake is now baked in an 
oven, and then placed in an iron 
pan; the pan, which has inlets at 
the upper side, is plunged into 
molten metal, which soon runs 
into the mold; being lifted out 
and cooled, the pan isopenedand 
found to contain a plate resem¬ 
bling the page of type; the mold 
is broken and of no further use. 

When removed from the pan, 
the plate is rough, and needs to 
He trimmed for working; for this 
purpose, it passes through the 
hands of artisans, who prepare 
it for the press. The paper 
mache process, wherein the 
mold is made of damp paper, 
is much quicker than the above, 
and is that in use in daily news¬ 
paper offices. In electrotyping 
the mold is taken in wax, 
coated with plumbago, and into 
this a film of copper is precipi¬ 
tated by a battery. The face of an electrotype is therefore of copper, and 
it is much more durable than the stereotype. 

Bookbinding. —The first operation in bookbinding is to fold the sheets, 
by means of a small instrument called a folder. The object is to fold down 
the different pages so as to fall on one another; and on the perfect accuracy 
with which this is performed depends the proper binding of the book. After 
being folded, the sheets of the book are gathered and collated according to the 
“ signatures,” a, b, etc., which are printed at the bottom of the first page of 
each sheet. The books so made up and completed, are now pressed to a 
proper solidity, by being placed in quantities in a hydraulic press. The 
next process is to saw indentations in the back of the book, preparatory to 
sewing. The books are next sewed on a frame, each sheet being attached 
by a thread to cords across the back. The sewing, though sometimes done 
by a machine, is chiefly executed by girls. On being removed from the 
sewing-frame, the book receives its “ waste-papers,” which are pasted to the 



SEWING BOOKS. 


























242 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

back on each side. The book is now “ trimmed,” by being cut on the edges 
with a knife-apparatus. The books are next glued on the back, to impart a 
certain degree of firmness. After this, they are “backed” by means of a 
machine, which imparts a certain roundness to the back, and at the same 
time gives a seat for the boards. The book, with a slip of canvas pasted on 
the back, is now ready for receiving the boards, which are previously cut in 
large quantities by a machine. The preparing and attaching of the cover 
forms the final stage of the process. For the whole of the class of boarded 
books we have been describing, there is a method of making “ cases.” A 
case consists of cloth or paper pasted on two boards, the distance of the 
boards from each other being equal to the thickness ol the book. The case 
being finished, receives the book, to which it is attached chiefly by pasting 
it to the canvas of the back and the blank or waste paper on each side. 
When it is deemed necessary, for the sake of attractiveness, to stamp a pe¬ 
culiar device on the covers of a book, of which thousands are required, the 
design is referred to an artist, who, devoting himself to this branch of his 
profession, devises something appropriate and original His design, drawn 
on paper, is cut in brass or steel; and this, in the form of a metal block, 

gives the stamp 
at a blow by the 
arming-p r e s s. 
When the de¬ 
sign is to be 
gilt, leaf-gold is 
previously ap¬ 
plied. 

Wood En- 
graving‘.--The 

wood used for 
engraving is 
boxwood, near¬ 
ly all of which 
is importedfrom 
Turkey. It is 

cut across the grain in slices, which are dressed to the same height as type, 
for convenience in printing. When blocks— as the pieces of wood are termed 
—are required of a larger size than a few inches square, it is necessary to 
join two or more pieces together, as the amount of sound wood to be got out 
of even a large slice is extremely limited. There is, however, for all practi¬ 
cal purposes, no limit to the joining process, as blocks have been printed 
consisting of from fifty to one hundred pieces. The wood having been made 
very smooth on the surface, and squared to the required size, is prepared 
foi the artist by being covered with a preparation of white (commonly 
water-color Chinese white); this gives a very good surface for the pencil to 
work on. The subject is then drawn in the ordinary way, the tints being 
generally washed in with India-ink, and the details filled in with pencil. 
When the drawing is finished, it is given to the engraver, who, previous to 
commencing, carefully covers the block with paper, fastened round the 
edges with beeswax; this is necessary, to avoid rubbing the drawing out in 
the process. As the engraving proceeds, he gradually tears the paper off. 
The tools or gravers necessary in wood engraving are of three kinds—viz., 
gravers proper, tint-tools, and scoopers or cutting out tools, for clearing out 



WOOD ENGRAVING. 






USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


243 


the larger pieces. They are arranged in different sizes, to suit the different 
portions of the work. Most engravers use a glass of slight magnifying 
power, more for the purpose of relieving the eyes from the strain of fixing 
both eyes closely on a small object, than for magnifying the work. When 
the drawing is in outline, or mostly so, the engraving is very simple: the 
process consists of engraving a line along each side of the pencil lines, 
which are, of course, to be left in relief, and afterwards cutting out the pieces 
between. It will thus be understood that every part of a wood-cut which 
prints on the paper is the surface of the wood left untouched, and that every 
white part is cut or hollowed out. When it is complicated with much shad¬ 
ing, trees, etc., it becomes much more difficult, and brings into play the ar¬ 
tistic talents of the engraver to preserve the proper shades, or color as 
it is technically 
termed, and texture 
of the different ob¬ 
jects. 

Copper - Plate 
Printing —In all 

engraving upon 
metal plates the 
traces or marks 
which are to appear 
on the paper are cut 
or sunk into the 
plate. Copper-plates 
are ready for press 
as soon as they are 
finished by the en¬ 
graver. The method 
of printing from 
them is very simple. 

Their engraved sur¬ 
face is daubed over 
with a thick oleagin¬ 
ous ink, so that the copper-plate printing. 

lines are effectually 

filled. As this dirties the whole face of the plate, it is necessary to clean it, 
which is done by the workman wiping it first with a piece of cloth, and then 
with the palms of his hands, rubbed on fine whiting. It may be calculated 
that a hundred times more ink is thus removed than actually remains in the 
indentations; however, such is necessary. The plate being thoroughly 
cleaned, it is laid on a press with a piece of damped paper over it; and be¬ 
ing wound beneath a roller covered with blanket-stuft, it is forced to yield 
an impression on the paper. The plate requires to be kept at a moderate 
warmth during the operation. 

Lithography. —The art of printing from stone was invented by Aloys 
Senefelder, at Munich, about the end of the 18th century. It consists, first, 
in writing and drawing on the stone with the pen and brush, with the graver, 
and with the crayon or chalk, or in transferring to the stone writings and 
drawings made with the pen or brush on transfer paper, or impressions 
from copper, steel, and pewter plates, taken on a coated paper, and then in 
















244 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

printing off from the stone the writings or drawings thus made upon it. The 
principles of the art are these: An unctuous composition having been made 
to adhere to a calcareo-argillaceous stone, those parts covered by it— i. e. t 
the writing or drawing—acquire the power ot receiving printing ink, whereas 
those parts not containing the writing or drawing are prevented from receiv¬ 
ing ink from the inking roller by the interposition of water; and lastly, an 
absorbent paper being laid on the stone, and subjected to strong pressure, 
copies are obtained. When any writing or drawing has been finished on 
stone, it then requires to be etched, thus: a mixture of two parts of nitric 
acid, and from forty to sixty parts of dissolved gum arabic, is poured over 
the stone once or several times, according to the nature of the work. The 
etching changes the surface of the stone, raising the work on it to a degree 
scarcely perceptible to the naked eye. The writing or drawing, which has 
been effected by greasy ink or chalk, remains protected from the action of 
the acid, and those protected parts retain the natural property of the stone, 
which is the qualification of receiving printing ink; and, when the printer 
wets the stone before applying the inking roller, the water enters only those 
parts of the stone which have been affected by the acid, while the ink ad¬ 
heres only to those parts, however fine, on which the acid could not operate, 
owing to the unctuous composition of the ink or chalk with which the 
drawing or writing'has been done, and which, being greasy, rejects the 
water. When the drawing or writing with ink on a polished stone is com¬ 
pleted, the etching is proceeded with, and a portion of the etching composi¬ 
tion allowed to dry on the stone. The printer then adjusts his stone in the 
press, washes off the dried gum, removes the whole drawing or writing with 
turpentine, wets the stone with a sponge or damping canvas, then applies 
his roller containing the printing ink, and rolls it several times over the 
stone till the lines appear again. When sufficient ink has been applied to 
the lines, the paper is laid on the stone, drawn through the press, and the 
impression effected. The damping and inking of the stone are renewed for 
every impression. Tinted drawings, chromo-lithography and colored maps 
require as many stones as there are various tints or colors, one stone being 
printed after the other, and so fitted and blended together as to produce, 
when complete, the effect desired. 

Photography.—The honor of having been the first to produce pictures 
by the action of light on a sensitive surface is now very generally conceded 
to Thomas Wedgwood, an account of whose researches was published in 
1802 in the “ Journal of the Royal Institution,” under the title, “ An Account 
of a Method of Copying Paintings upon Glass, and of making Profiles by the 
Agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver; with Observations by H. Davy.” In 
the experiments detailed in this communication, white paper and white 
leather were imbued with nitrate of silver, and exposed either in the camera 
obscura, or under the leaves of trees or wings of insects. The result was, 
that the shadows preserved the parts concealed by them white, while the 
other parts became speedily darkened. The misfortune w T as, that no 
attempts made either by Wedgwood or Davy to prevent the uncolored por¬ 
tions from being acted on b^ light (or, as we now r say, to fix the picture), 
were successful. This operation was not effected in a thoroughly efficient 
manner until Sir John Herschel suggested the employment of hyposulphite 
of soda for that purpose. Many other fixing agents had been previously 
used, as ammonia, iodide of potassium, chloride of sodium, and bromide of 
potassium, suggested by Mr. Fox Talbot; none of these, however, were 


USEFUL A UTS AND MANUFACTURES. 245 

found equal to the salt proposed and successfully used by Sir John 
Herschel. 

M. Niepce, of Chalon-on-the-Saone, was the first to enjoy the satisfaction 
ot producing permanent pictures by the influence of solar radiations. This 
was accomplished in 1814, and the name chosen to designate his process was 
heliography—a name in some respects preferable to photography. It con¬ 
sisted in coating a piece of plated silver or glass with a varnish made by 
dissolving powdered asphaltum to saturation in oil of lavender, taking care 
that the drying and setting of this varnish be allowed to take place in the 
entire absence of light and moisture. The plate so prepared was then 
exposed in the camera obscura for a length of time, varying from four to six 
hours, according to the amount of light. A faint image only is at first 
visible, and this is afterward developed and fixed by immersion in a mixture 
of oil of lavender and oil of white petroleum; the plate being finally washed 
with water, and dried. Light has little or no action on these heliographs; 
they should, however, be protected from moisture. M. Daguerre improved 
on this process, by suggesting the use of the resins obtained by evaporating 
oil of lavender, whereby a great increase of sensibility was secured. 

Adopting date of publication as the best evidence of discovery, the next 
process offering itself for consideration is that for photogenic drawing by 
Mr. Henry Fox Talbot, communicated to the Royal Society on the 31st Jan¬ 
uary, 1839, just six months previous to the publication of Daguerre’s pro¬ 
cess. It consisted in immersing carefully selected writing paper in a weak 
solution of common salt, and drying it. After this a dilute solution of nitrate 
of silver was spread over one side, and the paper again dried at the fire. 
When dry, it was fit for use, the sensitiveness being much increased by 
alternate treatment with saline and argentine solutions. Paper thus pre¬ 
pared yielded impressions in an incredibly short time, and nothing could be 
more perfect than the images it gave of leaves and flowers, the light passing 
through the leaves delineating every ramification of their nerves. Consid¬ 
erable improvement in point of sensibility was attained by Mr. Talbot in the 
following year, 1840, by the employment of iodide of silver on paper, as a 
foundation, to be washed over with a mixture of aceto-nitrate and gallo- 
nitrate of silver, just previous to exposure in the camera. Paper so prepared 
was so sensitive that an exposure of less than a second to diffused light was 
enough to produce an impression. After exposure and development, the 
picture was washed, and fixed by immersion in a solution of bromide of 
potassium. 

Niepce and Daguerre accidentally discovered that they were conducting 
experiments of a kindred character, and shortly afterward entered into a 
partnership. The former, however, dying in July, 1833, a new deed of part¬ 
nership was signed between his son Isidore and M. Daguerre, which resulted 
in the publication, in July, 1839, of the process known as the Daguerreotype. 
This was not done, however, until the French government had passed a bill, 
securing to M. Daguerre a pension of six thousand francs, and to M. Isidore 
Niepce, the son of the Niepce, a pension of four thousand francs, both for 
life, and one-half in reversion to their widows. This handsome conduct on 
the part of the French government was based upon the argument, that “ the 
invention did not admit of being secured by patent, since, as soon as pub¬ 
lished, all might avail themselves of its advantages;” they, therefore, chose 
to enjoy “ the glory of endowing the world of science and of art with one of 
the most surprising discoveries that honor their native land.” 

The discovery of the Daguerreotype may be said to have arisen from the 


246 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


dissatisfaction entertained by Daguerre with the insensibility of the bitu¬ 
minous surfaces of Niepce, which induced him to turn his attention to the 
salts of silver as a means of producing a higher degree of sensitiveness. This 
he attained by exposing a highly polished plate of silver (attached for 
greater strength, to a copper plate) to the vapor of iodine, by which pure 
iodide of silver was formed on the surface. The plate so prepared was ex¬ 
posed in the camera obscura for.a length of time (twenty minutes), which 
was then considered very short. No apparent effect was produced on the 
plate, the image being a latent one, arising from a minute molecular dis¬ 
turbance caused by the impact of the actinic rays. The latent image was 
afterward developed by exposing the plate to the vapor of mercury; and it is 
this development of a latent image, reducing as it did the time of exposure 
from hours to minutes, which truly constituted a new era in the science of 
photography. It is further due to Daguerre to state, that, while his pro¬ 
cesses for the purpose were imperfect, he still succeeded in fixing his 
pictures, although it was reserved for Sir John Herschel to announce the 
great suitability of the hyposulphites for dissolving the haloid salts of silver. 
The sensibility of the silver plate was still further increased by Mr. God¬ 
dard, who suggested, in 1839, the association of the vapor of bromine with 
that of iodine; while M. Claudet, in 1840, employed chlorine. It is a remark¬ 
able fact in connection with these discoveries, that the elder Niepce should, 
so early as 1820, have tried the treatment of silver plates with the vapor of 
sulphur and phosphorus. 

But the progress of this interesting science received a very important 
impulse from a discovery, which at first scarcely appeared to have any con¬ 
nection therewith. In 1833, Braconnot gave, in the “ Annales de Chimie,” 
an account of a new substance obtained by the action of nitric acid on 
starch, sawdust, linen and cotton-ioool. He named this substance Xyloidine; 
it was very combustible, and burned almost without residue. In 1838, 
Pelouze, in the “Comptes Bendues,” suggested its application in artillery. 
He says, “ Plunge paper in nitric acid (specific gravity 1-500), leave it in for 
two or three minutes, and wash: a kind of parchment is obtained, imperme¬ 
able to moisture, and extremely combustible.” Dumas, in 1843, proposed 
the name Nitramidine, and suggested its use for fireworks. At a meeting 
of the British Association held at Southampton in the year 1846, Herr 
Schonbein, an eminent Prussian chemist, read a paper on the preparation of 
explosive cotton, a substance obtained by acting on ordinary carded cotton 
by a mixture of strong nitric and sulphuric acids. This explosive cotton 
was afterward found to be soluble in ether; and the solution so prepared 
was named collodion by its discoverer, Mr. Maynard, who, in 1848, pub¬ 
lished in the “ American Journal of Medical Science ” the formula for its 
preparation. This ethereal solution having a certain proportion of alkaline 
iodides and iodide of silver added thereto, constituted the collodion first 
employed by Mr. Archer, who, although deserving the credit of having first 
arranged a practicable working process with collodion for its basis, without 
which photography could not have attained its present high position, says, 
in the second edition of his “ Manual,” “ It is due to Le Gray to say that he 
was the first to publish an account of collodion as a photographic agent; ” 
thus illustrating the candor with which Mr. Archer admitted his claim to be 
considered the first to suggest its value in photography. Mr. Fallon Horn 
and Mr. Frye materially assisted Mr. Archer in bringing his experiments to 
perfection. Although the announcement at the British Association in 1846, 
was to the effect that Schonbein had made cotton as explosive as gunpowder, 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


247 


no particulars were published. In April, 1847, he obtained a patent; but in 
October, 1846, Mr. Thomas Taylor had published a similar method to that 
patented. By one of those singular freaks of fortune which sometimes 
occur, Daguerre succeeded in identifying his name with his process; but 
Mr. Archer was not so fortunate as to give his name to the process which he 
invented. The sensitive surface is obtained by the conversion of the soluble 
iodides and bromides in the collodion film into iodide and bromide of silver 
by immersion in a solution of the nitrate of that base, and it is exposed in 
the camera while still moist with adherent nitrate, the latent image so ob¬ 
tained being developed with a mixture of protosulphate of iron, acetic acid, 
and alcohol, fixed with hyposulphite or soda, and varnished. 

In the Niepcotype or albumen process, glass plates of proper thickness 
and quality, and perfectly clean, are coated with albumen, to which an 
alkaline iodide has been added. "When perfectly dry, they are immersed in 
a solution of nitrate of silver, when an immediate decomposition takes place; 
iodide of silver being formed in the albumen film, and nitrate of potash or 
ammonia remaining in solution. The plate is then freely washed with 
water, dried, exposed, developed with gallic acid, and fixed with hyposul¬ 
phite of soda. 

A retrospective glance will show the reader that four processes have now 
been passed in review; and on a little consideration, it will be seen that one 
principle pervades the whole—viz., the production of a latent image by the 
action of light on iodide and bromide of silver, its subsequent development by 
suitable means, and the final removal of the unaltered portions of the sensi¬ 
tive film by a fixing agent. 

Among these processes, that in which collodion is employed has achieved 
a well-merited distinction, and is now so generally employed, as almost en¬ 
tirely to exclude the others. Various modifications of this process have 
been from time to time suggested to meet the exigencies of landscape pho¬ 
tography. It has already been stated that the collodion film is exposed while 
still moist with adherent nitrate of silver solution; and this method is 
especially applicable to the taking of portraits, where it is desired to reduce 
the time of exposure to a minimum; but for landscape purposes, it is by no 
means so imperatively necessary to curtail the time of exposure; and as the 
necessary apparatus and materials for sensitizing and developing a wet plate 
are somewhat cumbrous for field work, it was suggested by the Abbe De- 
spratz to wash off the free nitrate from the surface, and allow the film to dry 
in the absence of light. This is called the “ Dry Collodion Process.” A 
plate so prepared is, however, much less sensitive to light. A variety of 
agents have been used to preserve the film, such as sugar, albumen, malt, 
tannin, etc. 

The practice of photography in the present day is confined almost ex¬ 
clusively to the Positive, the Negative, and the Dry Collodion Processes. 
The j first and second differ only in degree, or density of deposit, the image 
being a positive — i. e., having its lights and shadows in their proper posi¬ 
tions. when seen by reflected light; and a negative, or with its lights and 
shadows reversed, when examined by transmitted light. The positive is 
backed with black varnish, and the desired pearly-white deposit produced 
by development with the protonitrate and sulphate of iron, and nitric and 
acetic acids. The negative is used only as a cliche from which to print 
positive impressions on paper or other suitable material, and requires a 
greater degree of density, its high lights being quite opaque, and descending 
by delicate gradations to its deepest shadows, which should be represented by 


248 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

clear glass. The negative requires a longer exposure in the camera than 
the positive, and is generally developed with protosulphate of iron and 
acetic acid, and intensified with pyrogallic and acetic acids, and nitrate of 
silver. The third or dry process is distinguished from the preceding modi¬ 
fications of the wet process by the complete removal of the adherent free 
nitrate of silver, the application of a preservative agent, and the necessity 

for adding nitrate of silver to the 
developer. There has recently 
come into general use a modifi¬ 
cation of the dry process, which 
is likely to supersede all others. 
It is known as the collodio- 
bromide or emulsion process, 
and was introduced by Syce and 
Bolton of Liverpool in 1864, but 
attracted little attention till 1871. 
An emulsion is formed by the 
addition of bromide of cadmium, 
and nitrate of silver to collodion; 
this is poured on a plate, 
washed, and immersed in any of 
the preservative solutions, and 
may be exposed wet, or dried 
and kept indefinitely. Plates so 
prepared are very sensitive, and 
possess the great advantage of 
being capable of development 
without nitrate of silver; pyro¬ 
gallic acid, ammonia and brom¬ 
ide of potass bringing them 
easily up to printing density. 

Paper.—T his well-known 
fabric is usually composed of 
vegetable fibres minutely divid¬ 
ed and recombined in thin 
sheets, either by simple drying 
in contact, or with the addition 
of size or some other adhesive 
material. Whatever the material 
employed, the process is the 
same. The rags, bark fibres, or 
other substance, must be re¬ 
duced with water into a fine, 
smooth pulp. The paper-mak¬ 
ing machine has almost entirely 
superseded the old hand pro¬ 
cess. It contains a pulp vat, 
with a hog or wheel inside to agitate the pulp, and an arrangement for 
pouring the pulp over a wire-gauze mold, which is an endless sheet mov¬ 
ing round two rollers, which keep it stretched out and revolving when in 
operation. Under the part which receives the pulp there is a series of small 
brass rollers; these, being nearly close together, keep it perfectly level, 







































USEFUL A UTS ATtD MAJTUFA (JTtTllES. 240 

which is a most necessary condition; besides which, there is a shallow 
trough, called the save all , which catches and retains the water, which al¬ 
ways escapes with some pulp in suspension; and an arrangement of suciion 
boxes and tubes, worked by air pumps, which draw much ot the water out 
as the pulp passes over them. The pulp is kept from running over the 
sides by straps called the decides, which are also endless bands, usually of 
vulcanized India-rubber, carried round moving rollers, so that they travel 
with the wire-gauze, and therefore offer no resistance to it. In addition to 
all this, the frame-work on which the surface of the wire-gauze rests has a 
shogging motion, or side-shake, which has an important effect in working 
the fibres together before the pulp finally settles down. When it reaches 
the coaching-rolls, which press out most of the remaining moisture, and 
carry it forward to the first and second series of press-rolls by means of an 
endless web of felt which passes round them, the speed of these rollers and 
the traveling sheet of felt is nicely calculated, so as to prevent a strain upon 
the still very tender web of paper. Sometimes the upper rollers of these 
two series are filled with steam, in order to commence drying the web. The 
paper is now trusted to itself, and passes on from the second press-rolls to 
the first set of drying cylinders, where it again meets with a felt sheet, 
which keeps it in close contact with the drying cylinders, which are of large 
size, and filled with steam. Around these it passes, drying as it goes; is 
then received between the two smoothing-rolls, or damp calenders, which 
press both surfaces, and remove the marks of the wire and felt, which are 
until then visible on the paper. This is necessarily done before the drying 
is quite completed; and from the smoothing-rolls it passes to the second 
series of drying cylinders, where the drying is finished, and thence to the 
calenders, which are polished rollers of hard cast-iron, so adjusted as to 
give a considerable pressure to the paper, and at the same time a glossiness 
of surface. For writing-papers, the paper passes through a shallow trough 
of size after leaving the drying cylinders, and then passes over an¬ 
other series of skeleton cylinders, with fans moving inside, by which 
it is again dried without heat, and afterwards passes through the calenders. 
Printing and other papers are usually sized by mixing the size in the pulp, 
in which stage the coloring materials—such as ultramarine for the blue tint 
of foolscap—are also introduced. Still following the paper web, it is seen to 
pass from the calenders to another machine; this slits the web into widths, 
which are again cross cut into sheets, the size of which is regulated at will. 
The water-mark is impressed on machine-made paper by means of a fine 
light wire cylinder with a wire-woven pattern; this is placed over the wire- 
gauze sheet upon which the pulp is spread, but near the other end of it, so 
that the light impression of the marker may act upon the paper just when it 
ceases to be pulp, and this remains all through its course. There are many 
other interesting joints about the paper-machine, but their introduction 
here would rather tend to confuse the reader. Its productive power is very 
great; it moves at a rate of from thirty to seventy feet per minute, spreading 
pulp, couching, drying, and calendering as it goes, so that the stream of 
pulp flowing in at one end is in two minutes passing out finished paper at 
the other. It has been computed that an ordinary machine, making webs of 
paper fifty-four inches wide, will turn out four miles a day. 

Silk. —Silk is the produce of a little caterpillar, being the substance of 
which the cocoon is formed, in which it reposes during its chrysalis state. 

All the insects which we call butterflies or moths, of which the silk worm 


250 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

is one, pass through two stages of existence before they arrive at their per¬ 
fect and final form; first, they are worms or caterpillars; then they pass into 
some sort of chrysalis, in which state the functions of life appear suspended; 
some of them bury in the earth, others make themselves cases of various 
materials in which to sleep till the time for their change comes; the silk¬ 
worm, at this time, spins itself a hollow oval ball of golden-colored silk. 
This period of sleep being past, the perfect insect emerges a beautiful but¬ 
terfly, glittering in all the colors of the rainbow, and basking in the sun¬ 
shine; or a soft and downy moth flitting through the evening shadows. 

The moth of the silk-worm is a quiet grayish moth, with no beauty to 
recommend it, and not very active either, its sole business appearing to be to 
lay the eggs which are to furnish the next crop of useful spinners; these eggs 
are about the size of a grain of mustard-seed, and care is required in hot cli¬ 
mates that they do not hatch before the time when their natural food is 
ready for them. In cold climates, there is no care of this kind necessary, as 
they need artificial heat to hatch them. 

The silk-worm in a wild state feeds only on the leaves of the mulberry- 
tree, and though it will eat the lettuce and some other things, it never 

thrives; nor is it singular 
in this, for many other 
kinds of caterpillars are 
found only or chiefly on 
one tree or plant, which is 
their favorite food. 

The eggs are hatched 
by artificial heat. The 
old plan for accomplishing 
this was for some person 
to wear them next their 
bosom for three or four 
days; but the present plan 
is to place them in a room 
the temperature of which 
is gradually raised, until 
the tenth day it reaches 
eighty-two degrees; 
when the eggs turn whitish it is a sign they are nearly ready to be hatched; 
sheets of perforated paper or pieces of clear muslin are placed over the 
eggs, and the tiny worms as they come out of their shells climb through to 
the upper surface of the paper or muslin. Small twigs of mulberry are 
placed on the paper, and as the little nurslings climb on to these they are 
carried away to the rearing-house and other twigs are laid on. Great care 
is taken that the room in which the worms are kept should be well venti¬ 
lated, and they are fed with young leaves chopped small* The silk-worms 
grow very rapidly; at first they are little black threads, small enough to be 
coiled in a shell not bigger than a mustard-seed. After one has grown for 
about eight days it refuses food, appears sickly, and pines, and in three 
days completely changes its skin, throwing off the old one which had con¬ 
fined it; it then grows rapidly again until the time of its second moulting, 
when it again refuses food, again casts off its skin, and increases very rapidly 
in bulk. This operation is repeated once more, and after the final moulting 
the worm is sometimes almost three inches long, and six will weigh an ounce; 
whereas when they were first hatched fifty thousand weighed no more. 



THE SILK-WORM. 








USEFUL A UTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


251 

Little artificial hedges of twigs are formed upon the shelves on which the 
worms have been fed, and when they are quite ready, and have no longer 
any inclination to eat, they climb among the twigs and seek a convenient 
place for forming their cocoons. They first spin thin, loose threads, and in¬ 
side these they form a hollow ball, firm and elastic, and capable of being 
unraveled into one continuous thread, varying in length from three hun¬ 
dred to six hundred yards. The length of a cocoon is generally about one 
inch, and its width about two-thirds of an inch; this is measured without the 
external loose floss silk, which, with some part of the cocoon, can never be 
reeled off, but has to be spun in the same manner as cotton. The cocoons 
are either white or yellow, those which are the latter hue contain the most 
of a peculiar gum which stiffens the silk, and with which the worm smears 
the interior of its cell when finished, to render it both air and water tight. 
The emission of all this silk, which has been secreted in two spiral vessels 
contained in the stomach of the worm, greatly reduces its size, and when, 
at the end of three or four days, the cocoon is completed, it rests awhile; 
and then changes its last caterpillar skin for the chrysalidan form, and 
would, if undisturbed, emerge in about fifteen or twenty days a moth. 

Usually the silk is taken in about seven or eight days from the time when 
the cocoons were finished. Great care must be taken to handle them gently, 
and to sort them very carefully, selecting some of the best to be preserved 
for the eggs. The perfect cocoons are put by themselves, and those which 
are soiled, double, or by any means imperfect, are sorted also. It is cus' 
tomary to kill the chrysalides in all those which are intended to be reeled, 
by exposure to great heat, and after this has been done the balls are stowed 
away on shelves in rooms intended for the purpose. 

In the average not more than one pound of reeled silk can be obtained 
from twelve pounds of cocoons; some of the difference being occasioned by 
the weight of the chrysalis, and the remainder by the floss or refuse silk. 

To reel the silk a little machine turned by hand is employed, which con¬ 
tains a large reel to form the skein of silk; this is usually about one yard in 
circumference, with a wheel which guides the thread to and fro in the same 
manner in which sewing-cotton is wound on reels. Attached to this is a 
small boiler, about eighteen inches long and six inches deep, under which a 
small charcoal fire is made; into this boiler the cocoons are thrown when 
the water is nearly boiling, and after a few minutes their gum is sufficiently 
softened for the loose filaments to float off. The reeler takes four or more 
of these in her hand, and twisting them together they adhere by means of 
the softened gum, and when attached to the reel, are wound off as one 
thread; by this means their strength is greatly increased. When the thread 
from One cocoon breaks it is not needful to tie a knot, the gumminess of the 
silk being sufficient to unite the ends; and great care must be taken by regu- 
ulating the number of threads wound at once, that the thread produced be 
of uniform size throughout. 

After reeling, the silk i3 sent to a mill where it is worked from raw silk 
into singles, tram, or or gamine; singles is merely made by twisting the 
raAV silk; for the formation of tram two or more threads are twisted together 
(this kind is used for shoot or weft); while organzine is a real, though fine, 
cable made of silk, it being composed of separate cords, each of which has 
previously been twisted; organzine is principally used for warp. 

The silk thus thrown is called hard silk, and must bo boiled with soap 
in order to discharge the gum; for unless this were done the silk would be 
harsh to the touch, and unfitted to receive the beautiful dyes which are 


m OTGL 0FJEL1A OF USEFUL KEO W LEDGE. 


always given to silk before it is woven. The boiling, which lasts four or five 

hours, lessens 
the weight, but 
increases the 
bulk of the silk, 
and renders it 
soft and glossy. 

Calico 
Printing_ 

The first opera- 
tion connected 
with the printing 
of cloth is the 
removal of the 
surface hairs or 
minute threads 
which communi¬ 
cate a fibrous 
down or nap to 
the surface of 
the cloth, and if 
allowed to re¬ 
main, would in¬ 
terfere with the 
uniform applica¬ 
tion of the col¬ 
ors. The surface 
down is got rid 
of by the pro¬ 
cess of singeing, 
during which 
the cloth is 
drawn over a 
red-hot iron or 
copper bar or 
plate, or through 
a series of gas 
jets. When well 
singed the cloth 
undergoes the 
process of 
bleaching, and 
is thereafter cal¬ 
endered. There 
are several 
modes of apply¬ 
ing the colors to 
cloth, but one of 
which, termed 
th emadder style. 

CAIiICO PRINTING. we haye space 

to describe. The madde,r style is that in which a certain fixing agent or mor- 
















































































































USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


253 


dant is printed on the cloth, which is then introduced into the coloring mat¬ 
ter in a dye-vat, when the mordant, having an attraction alike for the fibre 
of the cloth and for the coloring matter, acts the part of glue or paste, and 
cements the color to the cloth. Originally, madder was the only coloring 
substance employed in this style; but now-a-days, by far the greater num¬ 
ber of dye-stuffs, vegetable and auimal, including cochineal, logwood, etc., 
are attached to cloth in this manner. The fixing agents or mordants gen¬ 
erally employed are different strengths of red Uqao)' (acetate of alumina), 
iron liquor (acetate of iron), and mixtures of these. These are thickened 
with wheat-starch, potato-flour, roasted starch or dextrine, and gum-arabic, 
so that.the mordant may not run when it is placed on the cloth by the pat¬ 
tern-block or by the printing machine. After the mordant has been im¬ 
printed on the cloth, the latter is hung in a warm, airy room, where it can 
easily dry, but where it is at the same time surrounded by a moist atmos¬ 
phere. The result is, that the mordant is decomposed, the acetic acid is 
evolved, and the alumina or iron is left attached to the fibre of the cloth in 
the state of an insoluble sub-salt, which cannot be dissolved by water. As 
some of the mordant is still left in its original soluble condition, it is neces¬ 
sary to wash the cloth free from this, else, during the dyeing operation, the 
soluble part of the mordant would run on to those parts of the cloth not in¬ 
tended to be colored, and thus produce a blotted appearance. To obviate 
this, the cloth, having undergone the process of drying and ageing , is then 
introduced into a vat containing water, through which is diffused some cow- 
dung, dung substitute—a preparation of bone-ash, sulphuric acid, carbonate 
of soda, and glue—or bran. The result of this process of dunging is the re¬ 
moval of the soluble part of the mordant, as also the starch or thickening 
agent, leaving the decomposed or insoluble mordant adhering to the fibre. 
The terms dtm^-fixing, s?/b^#ufe-fixing, and bran-fixing, have reference to 
the employment of one or other of these agents at this stage of the operation. 
When the cloth has been well washed from the dunging, it is introduced into 
the vat or dye-beck containing the coloring matter. The whole is heated by 
steam-pipes, and the cloth being placed on a sparred reel kept in motion, 
is repeatedly wound out of the vat, and returned thereto. The result is, 
that wherever the mordant adhered to the cloth, the coloring matter is at¬ 
tached thereto, and little or no trace of color adheres to the unmordanted 
parts. The last operation is the clearing or brightening , during which the 
colored cloth is introduced into warm baths of water containing soda, soap, 
or, for the more delicate tints, bran, and is thereafter acted on by weak acid 
solutions. The object is to clear the colors, and at the same time to confer 
upon them the property of resisting the fading action of the air and sun for 
a much longer time. The different shades of color which can be obtained 
from the same madder beck or vat, with different mordants, are very nu¬ 
merous, and include reds, lilacs, purples, chocolates, and blacks. Thus, 
when a weak solution of red liquor (acetate of alumina) is employed as the 
mordant, a light-red tint is procured; with a stronger aluminous mordant, 
a deep red is formed on the cloth; with a more or less dilute solution of 
iron liquor (acetate of iron), the cloth is colored lilac, violet, or purple; with 
a strong solution of iron liquor, black is obtained. Indeed, the same piece 
of cloth stamped in different places with the various strengths of aluminous 
and iron mordants, and mixtures of these, and immersed in the madder- 
bath, will be obtained dyed with all the shades mentioned; and in this man¬ 
ner, many of the beautiful variegated colored dresses and handkerchiefs are 
prepared for market. 


254 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Iron.—Iron is a metal, and is a natural substance, but is not found in 
the state in which it is used. Metals are seldom met with pure, but are 
found combined with earthy matter in the form of rock, with sulphur, car¬ 
bon, etc., and in this state are called ores. Metals are mineral substances, 
which are opaque, and possess a peculiar lustre; they are fusible by heat, 
and do not become transparent during fusion; most of them are malleable 
—capable of being hammered out into sheets; ductile—capable of being 
drawn into wire; and tenacious, or not easily divided. 

Cast iron is the term applied to iron which has been melted and poured 
into molds; it is the simplest form in which this metal is used. To obtain 



PUDDLING IKON. 


it the rough ore is first piled up with fuel and roasted in a kiln, which frees 
it from water, sulphur, arsenic, and other impurities which are capable of 
being sublimed —which means being driven off in fumes. The roasted ore 
is then smelted in a blast furnace, which is charged from the top with certain 
proportions of iron ore, coke and limestone; the last to act as a flux. Cast 
iron articles are made by using a quantity of this pig-iron melted in a 
furnace, and then the liquid iron, which looks like liquid fire, is poured out 
into molds and allowed to cool very gradually. These molds are usually 
made in’a bed of fine wet sand; a curious instance of the employment of an 
apparently weak and fragile substance to mold or curb a strong one. 




































































USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES, 


255 


Wrought, otherwise called bar or malleable, iron is made from the 
rough pig-iron in -this manner: It is first refined, which is chiefly done in the 
“ puddling furnace,” the iron being exposed to very great heat, and stirred 
about while a strong current of air plays over its surface; the intense heat 
consumes the carbonaceous matter remaining in the iron, and all the earthy 
impurities rise to the surface in the form of slag, and are allowed to run off. 
Gradually, as the iron becomes purer, its fusibility generally lessens, and 
it becomes tough like dough, even though the heat of the furnace bo 
undiminished; it is then withdrawn, and while still red-hot is beaten with 
the forge hammer or subjected to rolling, by which means it becomes much 
more tenacious, from its particles being more closely compacted. This 



process converts hard, brittle, fusible pig metal into a tough elastic bar; 
very malleable, but hardly fusible at all. 

gteel.—To make steel from iron, bars of wrought iron are imbedded in 
pounded charcoal, and exposed to a furnace heat in close vessels; when 
withdrawn from the furnace the steel is found to have absorbed some of tho 
charcoal, to be harder and more fusible, and its surface covered with small 
bubbles, hence it is called blistered steel. When several rods of this kind 
are heated in a l.ox: with a flux, and afterward hammered into one piece, it 
js called shettv it j s the most suitable for making shears, 

































256 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

scissors, etc. When this kind of steel is melted and run into ingots, it is 
termed cast steel , which is the most perfect form of the metal. 

Steel is tempered by being plunged when red-hot into cold water or oil, 
by which means it becomes very hard, and can be made brittle and highly 
elastic; some things, such as a lancet, require the steel to be hard as ad¬ 
amant, but do not need strength, and break immediately; while for others, 
such as a trowel, the hardness must be associated with a toughness, which 
shall suffice to prevent it from breaking even with the roughest work; these 
extremes, and all intermediate stages, can be attained by regulating the 
processes of hardening and tempering. 

Glass. —Glass is a transparent, hard, brittle substance, formed by the 
fusion of flint or sand and an alkali; generally soda, though for the finer 
sorts of glass potash is used. It is remarkable that • though so perfectly 
transparent itself, none of the ingredients employed in the manufacture of 
glass possess that quality; and also, that an article which is brittle to a 
proverb, should, when heated, become so exceedingly ductile as to be capa¬ 
ble of being molded into any and every form that may be desired, and 
drawn out into the finest thread. 

Five kinds of glass are made: Flint glass, or crystal; crown glass, broad 
sheet glass, bottle, or green glass, and plate glass. Each of these kinds is 
made with silex and alkali; their different qualities being dependent on the 
proportion and degree of purity of these ingredients, and on various acces¬ 
sory materials; such as nitre, oxide of lead, of manganese, or of arsenic, 
borax or chalk. Formerly silex was sometimes used in the form of ground 
flint; now this is discontinued, and seasand is almost always employed. 

For all kinds of glass, except flint, the materials, after being purified, are 
put into a furnace called a “ calcar,” where they are “ calcined,” this process 
is called fritting; the substance comes out soft and paBty, and is cut into 
squares which harden and are piled away for future use. In the final melt¬ 
ing, th e frit is put into glass pots, or crucibles, about twelve of which stand 
in each furnace; these crucibles sometimes hold as much as a ton of glass 
each, and are reached by openings in the wall of the furnace. 

Glass does not become transparent as soon as it is melted; a white 
opaque porous scum, known by the name of sandiver or glass gall, rises to 
the surface, and till this is all cleared off the glass is not transparent, this 
scum, which appears to consist of salts and refuse alkali, is purchased by 
refiners of metals, who use it as a flux. 

The molten glass is fashioned into the different articles in the following 
manner: It is cooled till it becomes a consistent tenacious mass, soft enough 
to'yield to the slightest pressure, able to be bent and pulled into any shape 
without cracking. All kinds of small articles are made of flint glass; and to 
form these the workman then takes his blowpipe, collects a quantity of 
melted glass upon the end of it, and having rolled it upon a polished iron 
slab, called a marver, blows through the pipe, thus distending the glass 
into a hollow globe; this is repeated, the glass being frequently heated at 
the opening in the furnace, till it assumes the desired size; it is then trans¬ 
ferred from the blowpipe to another rod, and the workman, with an instru¬ 
ment like a pair of sugar-tongs, bends, contracts or enlarges the vessel; any 
excess of material is cut away with shears as readily as a bit of soft leather. 
One other tool completes the number used in all the ordinary processes: 
this is a small flat iron plate with a handle, and is called a battledore; it is 
used to flatten the bottoms of tumblers, jugs, etc. 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


257 


When completely formed the vessels are at once carried to the annealing 
oven called a lear , where they are heated and allowed to cool very gradually, 
without which precaution they would be liable to break with the slightest 
touch or change of temperature. The reason for this is, that crystalline 
substances expand with heat and contract in cooling, and as the degree of 
expansion exactly agrees with the degree of heat, anything like a tube or 
hollow vessel, which cools more slowly inside than outside, is very liable to 
be broken by the consequent derangement of the atoms—some being 
crushed by the unequal tension. The cure lies in placing the articles in 
•uch external heat as shall allow both surfaces to cool at the same rate. 



GLASS MANUFACTURE.—ANNEALING FURNACE. 

The larger and heavier the glass is the more difficult will it be to cool it 
safely. The annealing oven, or lear, is an arch with a furnace at one end, 
which is heated by coke, and which has a door at each end; this oven is very 
long, often sixty feet, but narrow; the floor is fitted with pans for receiving 
the glasses, which travel slowly on a miniature railroad from the hottest to 
the coolest end; the time employed for annealing varies, according to the 
size and weight of the articles, from six to sixty hours. 

Sheets of crown glass, like those used for cutting into window-panes, 
are made as follows: The melted glass is collected on the blowpipe, as in 
the case of flint glass, and the workman gradually blows a globe; he then 
fastens op an iron rod to the side opposite that where the blowpipe is in- 





































258 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

serted, and takes the latter away, which leaves a hole; he heats the glass 
again, and begins twirling the rod; the glass yields to the impulse, its 
diameter increases, and it finally flies out into a flat disk fifty to sixty inches 
across, and having the rod attached in the center by a lump of glass com¬ 
monly known as a bull’s eye. 

In making plate glass, great care is taken in the selection of such ma¬ 
terials as will insure the greatest clearness and most ready flowing of the 
glass; these are fused in the ordinary manner, and afterward removed from 
the large glass pots to smaller ones, also kept in the furnace, and from these 
the fluid glass is poured out on large flat iron tables constructed for the 
purpose; the tables are heated before being used; and a large copper roller 
is passed over the sheet of glass; as soon as it is set it is carefully removed 
into the annealing oven, where it remains about fifteen days. They are then 
what is termed rough plate, which is frequently used where great strength 
is more needed than transparency, but to finish the plate glass it must be 
squared, ground and polished; the grinding is performed by making a plate 
steady in a frame, and then causing another to rub steadily backward and 
forward upon it, with some grinding substance introduced between them; 
this is at first ground flint, and afterward as the roughness is lessened, 
emery powder is used; when perfectly smooth they are polished with 
leather cushion^ dressed with a red oxide of iron called colcothar. 

In converting the plates of glass into mirrors or looking glasses, a flat 
smooth slab of wood or stone, enclosed in a wooden frame and fixed on a 
pivot, is adjusted horizontally; a sheet of gray paper is then stretched over 
it, and above this another of very thin tinfoil, and as much mercury is 
poured on as will rest on its flat surface; the plate of glass is then very 
carefully slid into the frame and deposited on the foil, and considerable 
weights are applied to its surface, which squeeze out the superfluous mer¬ 
cury; at the end of a day the under side of the glass is found to be covered 
with a thin soft amalgam of mercury and tin, which hardens by exposure, 
and causes the glass accurately to reflect. 

China and Porcelain.— All kinds of pottery, from the finest to the 
coarsest, are composed of two ingredients, clay and flint baked together; 
but in porcelain these are of such kinds and in such proportions that the 
product is a semivitrified compound, in which one portion remains unaltered 
by the intensest heat, while the other vitrifies or becomes glass, and, en¬ 
veloping the particles of the infusible ingredient, produces the smooth, 
compact, shining, semi-transparent substance we call porcelain. 

In preparing the materials, the first part is the preparation of the 
clay. That from which English porcelain is composed is mostly found 
in Cornwall, Devonshire and Dorsetshire. The clay from the first named 
place, which is considered the finest, consists of decomposed felspar of 
granite, which is the rock most abounding in that county. The clay 
merchants prepare it by the following method, and send it to the potters 
under the name of china clay: The stone is broken up, and laid in run¬ 
ning water, the clayey, or, as they are called, argillaceous parts, being 
the lightest, are earned off in suspension, while the quartz and mica, which 
were united with them in the granite, fall soon to the bottom. At some dis¬ 
tance these rivulets end in catch-pools where the water is arrested, and 
after time has been allowed for the pure clay with which it was charged 
to settle and form a deposit, it is drawn off, and the clay dug out in 
square blocks, which are placed on shelves to dry in the air. It is now 


USEFUL A UTS AND MANUFACTURES. 259 

a hard, white mass, which can by crushing be reduced to an impalpable 
powder. 

The lumps of clay are first pounded and mixed with water to the con¬ 
sistence of cream, by means of various beating and cutting implements; the 
pulp is then strained through several sieves, each one finer than the last. 
The next process is preparing the flints, which are first burnt in a kiln and 
thrown, red-hot, into cold water, and afterward ground in water to an im¬ 
palpable powder; the two dilutions of clay and flint are then brought to¬ 
gether, stirred very thoroughly, and again strained, and so great is the 
affinity between them that* even when wet, they unite and form a mortar 
which no action of the atmosphere can decompose. This fluid mixture is 
called “ slip,” and is gradually evaporated in what are called “slip-kilns” 
to a consistence like dough. It is not yet in a state fit for molding into dif¬ 
ferent articles, for it leaves the slip-kiln full of air-bubbles, which must" be 
worked out by elaborate treading and kneading, generally with the naked 
feet, and after this is done, it should be left a long while before it is used, 
that the two elements may the more intimately unite. If placed in a damp 
cellar, the blocks of slip undergo a kind of fermentation, by which all traces 
of animal or vegetable matter which they may have contained are decom¬ 
posed and got rid of; and this greatly improves its quality. So sensible are 
the Chinese of this that they extend the interval over fifteen or twenty years, 
and a parent will often provide a sufficient stock for his son’s life. 

There are three modes in use in shaping the vessels—throwing, pressing 
and casting; throwing is performed on a kind of lathe, which consists in a 
contrivance by which a small circular board revolves very rapidly, and on 
this the clay is measured, and its intended shape given to it, by the press¬ 
ure of the fingers and palms of the potter’s hands. The clay vessel thus 
molded is then partially dried before transferring it to the turning-lathe, 
where it is reduced by sharp tools to the required thickness, and its form 
carefully finished off; it next passes to a man who applies handles, spouts, 
and all other small appendages; these are fastened on with slip; all these 
small, irregular-shaped pieces are made by pressing in molds formed of 
plaster of Paris; and plates, saucers, and other shallow vessels, are formed 
in a mold, which is made to revolve on the block of the lathe, and into 
which the workman presses the clay with his hand. 

The vessels are put into a furnace enclosed in deep clay boxes called seg- 
gars, capable of sustaining the most intense heat; these protect the ware 
from the flame and smoke; the process of baking lasts from forty-eight to fifty 
hours, the heat gradually increasing; trial pieces are placed where they can 
easily be abstracted to see how the process goes on, and when it is finished, 
the fires are put out, and all is left undisturbed twenty or thirty hours to 
cool. Bisque or biscuit is the name given to the ware after its first baking. 
It is so called from its resemblance to ship-bread. Many small vases, figures, 
and other articles of ornament are sold in this stage. The ware is afterward 
glazed by being dipped in a compound of litharge of lead and groiind flints, 
glass, or some similar ingredients, mixed with water to the consistency of 
thin cream. The workman employed stands by a large tub or other reser¬ 
voir, and, taking up the pieces of ware so that the smallest possible portion 
shall be covered by the fingers, he dexterously plunges it in, taking care 
that the glaze is equally distributed all over the article; it then passes to a 
woman, who scrapes off any superfluous glaze adhering to it. A skillful 
workman will dip about seven hundred dozen plates in a day. It is worthy 
of remark that the glaze, when applied, is perfectly opaque, so that any 


260 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


painting or printing with which the article may have been ornamented is 
not visible until it has been fired. This second baking is done in a gloss 
oven; the heat converts the flint, etc., into a thin coating of glass. 

The next operation is painting, which requires to be done with peculiar 
metallic colors, united to a flux; these colors are moistened with gum-water 
or a peculiar oil, which causes them to adhere to the surface of the china 
until it is subjected to a slight firing, sufficient to fuse the glass or flint with 
which the colors are united; the paintings are thus burnt in, and acquire a 
gloss equal to the rest of the surface. Professed artists are employed for 
ornamenting china in this manner, and the most exquisite designs are fre¬ 
quently produced. For the common ware a much simpler process suffices, 
and this is done before the glazing instead of after it, as is the case with the 
painting. The pattern is printed from a copper-plate, on a thin paper, and 
this is transferred to the ware in the state of biscuit, when the color remains 
and the paper is removed; the glazing then proceeds as before noted. Gold 

is applied to the finer 
wares in a metallic 
state, and, after burning 
on, requires burnishing 
with agate or blood¬ 
stone. 

W at cli-Making-.— 

There is no more won¬ 
derful or curious piece 
of mechanism than a 
watch. As it is the most 
interesting of all ma¬ 
chines, so the process by 
which it is produced 
from simple wires of 
steel, plates of brass and 
ingots of gold or silver, 
is very curious. All 
the minute parts of a 
watch-making.—the work room. watch are made by ma¬ 

chinery in this country. 

Equally curious with the making of the minute screws is the fashioning of 
the other tiny parts. One machine punches a plain round piece of brass; 
another makes it a skeleton wheel; a third cuts the teeth on a score of 
wheels; yet another polishes it; then it goes into a room where it is im¬ 
mersed in a solution of gold, thus, gilding it; and it comes out one of those 
beauti ful little wheels vhich you see moving so exactly on its pivot in the 
completed watch. Another apparatus is used to fashion the escapement 
wheels, with their oddly-turned teeth, and the compensation balance, 
the most conspicuous of all the wheels of a watch, with its two sec¬ 
tions, held together by a thin, diametrical bar of steel, and its outer 
and inner rims of brass and steel. This compensation balance is one 
of the most important inventions in the modern watch, as the different 
degrees of the contraction or expansion, by cold or heat, of the cop¬ 
per and steel rims, keep the balance constant in all temperatures. No piece, 
however small, is put into a watch until it has been measured and weighed! 
There is also a gauging machine for measuring thickness, and still another 














USEFUL ALTS A XL MAX UFA C TULFS. 


261 


machine measures the hair springs. One of the most interesting rooms is 
that in which the dials, or white faces of the watches, are made. These are 
at first plain, round copper pieces, cut out of the sheets by machinery. A 
preparation of white enamel is spread over this copper piece; and when it is 
dry it is inserted into a red-hot hole, where the enamel is fused hard on the 
copper. It is then ground with fine sand and again subjected to fire to 
give it the glossy appearance which we see on the watch’s face. Another 
curious room is that where the different brass pieces are gilded by means of 
batteries and gold solutions. The watches are tested, as to bearing differ¬ 
ent temperatures, by first being placed in little drawers where the air is 
made very warm, and then in similar little drawers where it is more than 
freezing cold. 

Spectacles.—The white lens in use in the ordinary spectacle of com¬ 
merce is made of the common window-pane glass rolled in sheets; some¬ 
times it is made into balls. From these are cut pieces of about one and a 
quarter to one and a half 
inches in size; they are then 
taken into the grinding room 
and each piece cemented 
separately upon what is 
called a lap of a semi-circu¬ 
lar shape. These are made 
to fit into a corresponding 
curve or saucer, into which 
fine emery powder is intro¬ 
duced, and subjected to a 
swift, rotary motion. The 
gradual curve in the lap 
gives to the glass as it is 
ground a corresponding 
shape until the desired cen¬ 
ter is reached; the lap is 
then taken out and subjected 
to warmth, which melts the 
cement sufficiently to permit 
the glass being removed and watch-making.—firing the dials. 

turned upon the opposite 

side, when the same process is renewed. This being completed, the lenses 
are detached again from the lap and taken to another department, where 
they are shaped to fit the frames. This is accomplished by a machine ot 
extreme delicacy. Each piece of glass is put separately upon a rest, when a 
diamond is brought to bear upon it, moving in the form of an oval, thus cut¬ 
ting the desired size; but the edges, of course, are rough and sharp, and 
must be beveled. For this purpose they are turned over to another set of 
hands, mostly girls, who have charge of the grindstones, which are about 
six inches in thickness. Each operator is provided with a gauge; the glass 
is taken between the forefinger and the thumb, and held sufficiently side¬ 
ways to produce half the desired bevel; when this is attained it is again 
turned and the other side of the bevel completed. During this process it is 
constantly gauged in order to ascertain that the frame will close upon it 
without too much pressure, which would break the lens. The next process 
to which the lens is subjected is that of “ focusing,” and requires extreme 











262 CYCLOPEDIA OP tTSEPTTL KNOWLEDGE. 


care. The person having this department to attend to is placed in a small 
room alone; across the entrance is hung a curtain which is only drawn 
aside sufficiently to admit the required amount of light from a window sev¬ 
eral feet away, upon one of the top panes of which is placed a piece of 
heavy cardboard with a small hole cut in the center representing the bull’s 
eye of a target. Through this the rays of light shine upon the lens in the 
hands of a workman, and are reflected through it to a dark background. 
The lens is then moved back and forth upon an inch measure until the 
proper focus is attained. Say, for instance, the extreme end of the measure 
is sixty-two inches, the lens is placed at that, but does not focus; it is 
gradually moved along inch by inch, until, perhaps, it is brought to thirty- 
six inches. At this the proper height of center or focus is attained, and it is 
then numbered thirty-six. The same operation is, of course, necessary with 
every lens. This accounts for the numbers which are upon spectacles or 


glasses of any kind when 
purchased. 



Piano-Making 1 .—Al¬ 
most most universal in use 
as is the piano, few people 
know how intricate an in¬ 
strument it is; how many 
and delicate are its pro¬ 
cesses of manufacture; or 
are aware that years must 
elapse between the cutting 
of the various kinds of 
wood from which it is 
made, and its final appear¬ 
ance complete and beauti¬ 
ful. The manufacture of 
the instrument gives em¬ 
ployment to a great variety 
of artisans, among whom 
the work of the several 
parts is minutely divided; 


PIANO-MAKING.—THE CASE ROOM. 


there are the key makers, hammer makers, hammer leatherers, string 
makers, stringers, case makers, finishers, etc. The construction is a slow 
process, and cannot well be hurried, a grand piano usually requiring to be 
six months in making. One curious sight is a huge log of rosewood being 
gradually sawed into the thin strips used for veneering. The machine 
passes to and fro, shaving off only one veneer at a time, the strips growing 
larger at each passage of the saw, until the whole is cut up. There is a be¬ 
wildering variety of machinery in use, each piece of which is full of interest. 
The most delicate operations are performed, such as making the small 
“ action screws ” and “ bridge pins,” “ caps ” and “ dies.” The case room is 
where the wooden bodies of the pianos are veneered and put together, and 
the adjusted pieces at last begin to take a shape familiar to you. More in¬ 
teresting still, perhaps, is the room where the rosewood veneers—the tops 
and sides of the piano—are being made to wear the perfectly smooth and 
shining appearance which you see on the finished instrument. These tops 
and sides are first well varnished in a large room devoted to this work; 
then they are carried to another room, where you see two men on each side 












USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


263 


of a piano-top, rapidly rubbing it with pumice stone—a very bard piece of 
work. Then the pieces are polished, and rubbed with “ rotten stone,” and 
finally come out perfectly smooth. 

Perfumery. —There is, perhaps, no occupation which is exactly so 
poetical in its surroundings as the perfumer’s is; that is, the perfumer who 
distills his essences and infuses his extracts at first hand among the flowers, 
and not among the chemist’s bottles in the shop. Where he dwells and 
works it is usually in the South, where groves of oranges and lemons are 
not too far away to give him their buds, and where acres of flowers bloom 
all about him—fields of the violet, of the rose, of the geranium, the verbena, 
the lily-of-the-valley, the jasmine, tuberose, hyacinth, jonquil, and myrtle, 
and all the rest of the sweet sisterhood. These flowers, each in its season, 
his employees gather, always at nightfall or at early dawn, when the dew is 
on them. Brought in in large hampers, they are piled handful by handful 
on a frame, over which has 
previously been stretched a 
cloth, often resembling cot¬ 
ton-flannel, moistened in 
odorless olive or almond oil. 

When the frame is filled, 
another is fitted over it, and 
that in turn is heaped; and 
the fitting and heaping are 
continued till a ponderous 
pile is prepared, which is 
left a couple of days, and 
then fresh flowers replace 
the first, and the process is 
repeated every two days for 
a fortnight. At the end of 
this time, the last flowers 
being removed, the cloths 
are taken from the frames, 
and the oil with which they 
were moistened is wrung piano-making.—the polishing boom. 

away from them under great 

pressure, and is found to be heavily and deliciously charged with the aroma 
of the flowers used. In order to make the finest extracts, this oil is used 
with double its weight of pure rectified spirit in a vessel known among 
cooks as a digester; that is, a porcelain or block-tin kettle that fits in an¬ 
other kettle, the outer one filled with boiling water. In this vessel the con¬ 
tents digest during three or four days, being very frequently shaken the 
while. Then, having been set to cool, the spirit is decanted into another 
vessel holding the same quantity of the perfumed oil, and the process is re¬ 
peated. After the third repetition the spirit has taken up enough of the 
perfume, and it is carefully decanted from the oil, for the last time, through 
a tube, one end of which is filled with cotton-wool; and it is then pro¬ 
nounced to be the choicest extract known, usually called “ triple-extract, 
possessing an exquisite delicacy that belongs to no other preparation. 

Soap. —Soap is a compound formed by the union of an unctuous sub¬ 
stance and an alkali. Soaps are of two kinds, hard and soft, differing from 



















264 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

each other in the materials used in their manufacture, and in the uses to 
which they are applied; the latter kind being chiefly used in cleansing of 
stuffs and silks. Hard soaps are made from animal fats, or vegetable fat 
oils, and soda; soft soaps of fish oil or vegetable drying oils, and potash; 
soda soaps are invariably harder than potash soaps, when the oleaginous 
substance is the same. Soap purifies only by virtue of its alkali, part of 
which combines with the greasy matter to be removed by washing. 

The soda is chiefly obtained from the decomposition of sea salt, the lye 
being frequently made with the unpurified soda in the state of black-ash. 
The potash is obtained by calcinizing wood-ashes. The principal oily in¬ 
gredients are tallow or animal fat, and palm-oil, which is obtained from the 
fruit of the Elais Guianensis, or oil palm, a native of the west coast of 
Africa, where it is extensively cultivated. Olive oil, whale, seal, and cod 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP. 


oil are also used in smaller quantities; a portion of resin is put into yellow 
soap. 

The whole quantity of tallow or oil intended to be used is put into the 
soap-pan (a large iron boiler) at once, but the alkali is supplied at several 
successive times, the exhausted lyes being pumped out and fresh ones 
added; a quantity of salt is put into the pan when it is desired to separate 
the soap from the lye in which it is suspended. Two or three boilings are 
usually given to it for as many successive days. 

When the soap is properly formed, the lye is carefullv separated from it, 
and then it is removed in buckets, to the “ frame room,’’ where it is poured 
into large frames which are like bins, their sides being bolted together. 
Here the pasty mass is stirred and raked about with a little water to make 
the grain finer and more equable, and it is then allowed to solidify; when it 
is quite firm the frame is unbolted and taken off, and a block of soap re¬ 
mains, which is cut up into bars and stowed away to dry. Soft soaps are 



































tTSEFtTL A JITS AND MANTTFACTTTHES. 


265 


made in a similar manner, only the exhausted lyes are not pumped off. 
These soaps always contain half their weight of water; hard soaps may be 
reckoned to contain one part alkali, nine parts greasy matter, and five or six 
parts water. 

Leather.—This useful article consists essentially of the skins of ani¬ 
mals chemically altered by the vegetable principle called tannin or tannic 
acid, so as to arrest decomposition. The skins of all animals used in the 
production of leather consist chiefly of gelatine, a substance which easily 
enters into chemical combination with the tannic acid found in the bark of 
most kinds of trees, and forms what may be termed an insoluble tanno- 
gelatin. This is the whole theory of tanning, or converting the skins of ani¬ 
mals into leather. Formerly, oak-bark was supposed to be the only tanning 
material of any 
value; but lately, 
very numerous ad¬ 
ditions have been 
made to this branch 
of economic botany. 

In addition to the 
process of tanning 
in making leather, 
there are other 
modes, one of which 
is tawing , another 
dressing in oil. The 
following are the 
skins which form 
the staple of our 
leather manufac¬ 
ture: ox* cow, calf, 
and kip, buffalo, 
horse, sheep, lamb, 
goat, kid, deer, 
dog, seal, and hog. 

Starch.—Starch 
or amylaceous mat¬ 
ter is an organized a tan-yard. 

substance of t h e 

class known as carbo-hydrates, which occurs in roimdish or oval grains in 
the cellular tissue of certain parts of plants. It is very widely diffused 
through the vegetable kingdom, and is especially abundant in the seeds of 
the cereals, in the seeds of leguminous plants such as peas and beans, in 
the tuber of the potato, in the roots of arrowroot and tapioca, in the pith of 
the sago palm, etc. The grains of starch from the same kind of plant are 
tolerably uniform in size and shape, but vary in different species of plants 
from l-260th to less than l-3000th of an inch in diameter; and while some 
are circular or oval, others are angular; moreover, among other differences, 
some (chiefly the larger grains) exhibit a series of concentric rings, while in 
others no rings are apparent; and while the grains of potato-starch, if illum¬ 
inated by polarized light, with a prism placed between the object and the eye, 
present a well-marked black cross, in wheat-starch no such cross is seen. 













266 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Ordinary commercial starch occurs either as a white, glistening powder, 
or in masses which are readily pulverized; and when pressed between the 
fingers it evolves a slight but peculiar sound. It is heavier than water, and 
is insoluble in cold water, alcohol, and ether. If, however, it be placed in 
water at a temperature of 150°, its granules swell from the absorption of 
fluid, and the mixture assumes a viscid, pasty consistence. Dilute acids 
rapidly induce a similar change, even without the agency of heat; and if 
heated with dilute sulphuric acid, the starch is first converted into dex¬ 
trine', and finally into glycose or grape-sugar; and manufacturing chemists 
avail themselves of this property to obtain glycose on a large scale from 
starch. Starch dissolves in cold nitric acid, and on the addition of water to 
this solution, a white, tasteless, insoluble precipitate falls, which is known 
as Xyloidin , and explodes violently when struck by a hammer, or when 
heated up to about 350°. The composition of this substance is not positively 
known, but in all probability one or two equivalents of the hydrogen of the 
starch (most probably two) are replaced by a corresponding number of 
equivalents of peroxide of nitrogen. 

The reactions of starch with iodine and bromine are very remarkable. 
Iodine communicates to it a very beautiful purple color, and hence starch- 
paste serves as a delicate test for free iodine. The purple color which the 
iodine gives to the starch granules appears not to depend on a chemical 
combination, because on the application of heat the color disappears, and 
reappears on cooling. Bromine communicates a brilliant orange tint to 
starch—a reaction by which the presence of free bromine may be readily de¬ 
tected. When heated to a temperature of from 340° to 400°, dry starch is 
converted into Dextrine, or British gum. At a higher temperature, it under¬ 
goes decomposition, and yields on dry distillation the same products as 
sugar. When heated in steam under pressure, it also passes into dextrine, 
and finally into glycose. The addition of a little sulphuric acid hastens 
these changes. 

During the germination of seed, the starch undergoes a kind <ft fermen¬ 
tation, and is converted into a mixture of dextrine and glycose. This change 
is due to the action of a peculiar ferment termed Diastase, which exists in 
all germinating seeds during the process of growth, and is probably a mix¬ 
ture of albumen and gluten in a special stage of decomposition. Various 
animal matters, as, for example, saliva, pancreatic juice, the serum of the 
blood, bile, etc., exert the same action on starch as diastase. On treating 
starch with chlorine, a remarkable, colorless, oily fluid, Cliloral , is obtained. 
On prolonged exposure to the air, starch paste becomes acid, in consequence 
of the formation of lactic acid. 

Starch is usually obtained by a simply mechanical separation of it from 
the other ingredients with which it is associated; advantage being taken of 
its insolubility in cold water. The details of the mode of separation vary 
according to the source from which it is procured. We extract from Miller’s 
“ Organic Chemisty ” the method of procuring potato starch: “ This variety 
is prepared on a large scale from potatoes, which contain about 20 per cent, 
of amylaceous matter. The cellular tissue of the tuber does not exceed 2 
per cent, of the mass; while of the remainder about 76 per cent, consists of 
water, and the rest of small quantities of sugar, salts, and azotized matters. 
In order to extract the starch, the tubers are first freed from adhering earth 
by a thorough washing, and are then rasped by machinery. The pulp thus 
obtained is received upon a sieve, and is washed continually by a gentle 
stream of water so long as the washings run through milky. This milkiness 


267 


USEFUL A R TS AND UA N UFA CTFEES. 

is due to the granules of starch which are held in suspension. The milky 
liquid is received into vats, in which the amylaceous matter is allowed to 
subside; the supernatant water is drawn off, and the deposit is repeatedly 
washed with fresh water until the washings are no longer colored. The 
starch is then suspended in a small portion of water run through a fine sieve 
to keep back any portions of sand, and after having been again allowed to 
settle, is drained in baskets lined with ticking; the mass is then placed upon 
a porous floor of half-baked tiles, and dried in a current of air, which is at 
first of the natural temperature; the drying is completed by the application 
of a moderate artificial heat.” To obtain starch from wheat or rice, a more 
complicated process is required, as the large quantity of gluten which is 
associated with the starch in these grains requires to be removed either by 



MAPLE SUGAR.—GATHERING THE SAP. 


fermentation, or, according to Jones’s patent, by a weak alkaline solution, 
which dissolves the gluten, but does not affect the starch granules. 

Commercially, there are two classes of starch—those used for food, and 
those used for manufacturing purposes. The latter are chiefly made from 
wheat, rice, and potatoes; but in addition, large quantities of sago Btarch are 
prepared in India, and small quantities are from time to time prepared from 
other sources, such as the fruit oi the horse-chestnut, etc. 

Maple Sugar.—The sugar maple tree resembles the sycamore, and 
abounds in the northern parts of the United States, and in the British pos¬ 
sessions, where large quantities of sugar are made from it. The trunk of 
. 4 V .0 Dimor maWl a is crfinA.rflllv more slender than that of the sycamore, lo 




















268 CYCLOPEDIA OP USPPUL KKOWLEDCP. 


strained and poured into molds, in which it crystallizes into a coarse gray 
or brown colored sugar. It is sometimes afterwards refined. Four gallons 
of sap yield about one pound of sugar. A single tree yields from two to 
six pounds in a season. During the sugar.making season, sheds are erected 
in the woods for the boiling and other processes of the manufacture. The 
sap cannot be kept long after being collected. 

Wall Paper.—In the manufacture of wall paper, the “blotching ma¬ 
chine ” performs the first operation. A web of blank paper is set in a reel 
behind one of these machines. The free end of the paper on the web is 
pulled forward and placed between two cylinders which drag it into the 
machine, where a roller, part of which is working in a “ color pan” filled 
with thin paint, is working. This roller puts a large quantity of color upon 
the paper, and a set of flat brushes called “ jiggers ” work rapidly back and 
forward, working this coloring matter in and spreading it evenly over the 
surface of the paper, so that when the cylinders of the rear end of the ma¬ 
chine drag it out it is thoroughly painted in water color on one side. 

As it issues from the blotching machine a workman takes the free end of 
the paper and wraps it around a stick, which is carried up an incline by two 
parallel endless chains. After eighteen feet of the paper have run out, these 
chains pick up another stick -which lies across them and bears a paper upon 
it. This last stick chases the first one up and gains upon it till only a foot 
behind, when it stops gaining and both travel along maintaining that rela¬ 
tive distance, with the paper between them looped down till it nearly touches 
the floor. A hundred other sticks do precisely as the second one did, and 
the result is that there are soon a hundred loops of paper, each loop con¬ 
taining eighteen feet. The elevated railway of parallel chains on which the 
sticks from which the paper is looped are traveling turns corners of the 
building at will, and soon the blotching machine has run the whole web 
out, and it is hanging in loops over a system of steam pipes, which dry it so 
fast, as it moves along, that it is perfectly dry before it reaches the farther 
end of the chain railway, where a boy with a reel winds it back into web 
form again. 

The designs are first sketched out on paper and then transferred by an 
ordinary process on the faces of rollers made to suit the size required—an 
eighteen inch design, for instance, requiring a roller six inches in diameter. 
May be the design requires printing in twelve colors (that is the highest 
number ordinarily run); to do this twelve rollers would be prepared, each 
having the design upon it and each of a size exactly equal to that of the 
others. When the rollers are all prepared the artist will direct skilled work¬ 
men who are with him to fix one up to take the brown, another red, another 
yellow, and so on with all the other colors. Let the brown color serve as 
an example for all. 

The workman takes it to his bench, where there is a vise and hammers 
and files and piles of brass made into thick ribbons and rods. Here he sets 
the roller in the grasp of the vise and goes to work on it. Every bit of the 
design which is to be in brown is traced out for him and he reproduces it in 
relief on the roller with his bronze wires and rods and ribbons, which he 
drives into the hard wood so solidly that they stick there as- if they had 
grown. The brass wire can be given any ordinary shape necessary by draw¬ 
ing it by machinery through a hole of corresponding shape in a steel bar. 
This is the way that the roller, which will print in brown, is first fitted up. 
When it is finished it bears on its face, in raised brass, fragments of leaves 


269 


, USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 

and parts of birds and ears of wheat, and little and apparently unnecessary 
and unshaped points of metal, all of which at the proper place and time will 
put the brown coloring and shading m exactly the place where the designer 
wants it to go. 

When the roller has had all its share of the design hammered into it, it 
is taken away to a turning-lathe, when the face of all the brass work is 
struck on one side by pumice stone and on the other by a file, and gradually 
brought down to perfect smoothness and evenness and the exact size 
needed. All the other rollers are treated in the way indicated, each getting 
its share of the design hammered into its face in brass work and each after¬ 
ward being reduced to smoothness and the proper size by the file and 
pumice stone. It sometimes costs one thousand dollars to get up a set of 



MANUFACTURE OF TURPENTINE, RESIN AND TAR.—FIG. 1. 

rollers in this fashion, and they, may be, take three or four weeks in 
preparation. 

When the rollers are prepared they are taken to a press which consists 
of a very large cylinder of the width of ordinary wall paper. Around the 
bottom and sides of this cylinder are grooves into which the rods on the ends 
of the rollers fit, the faces of the rollers just touching the cylinder when 
they are in position. To each of the rollei’S comes from below it an endless 
cloth band, which works upward from a color pan in which the coloring 
matter to be used on the particular parts of the design carried on the roller 
in question is lying in the shape of a thin liquid. Each of the rollers is 
registered, that is, turned so that the portion of the design upon it will ex¬ 
actly strike in the spot necessitated by the relative position of the other 
rollers. When all is thus arranged and the paper, which has previously 
passed through the blotcher, is conducted between the cylinder and the 










270 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 


first roller, the machine is started; cylinder and rollers revolve at once, 
each of the latter printing its color just where it was intended, and a steel 
scraper called a doctor, lying at each of the endless cloth hands spoken of, 
seeing to it that not too much liquid from the other pans gets on the rollers. 
The press works very rapidly, throwing off ten rolls of the paper a minute, 
and each roll contains sixteen yards. 

Turpentine, Resin and Tar _The long-leaved pine of the South¬ 

ern States furnishes the chief source of supply of turpentine, resin, tar and 
pitch. This tree grows from the northeastern boundary of North Carolina, 
along the Atlantic coast to Florida, across that State to the Gulf, and thence 
to Louisiana, in a belt averaging one hundred miles in width. 

The first step is to obtain the crude turpentine. This is the natural juico 



MANUFACTURE OF TURPENTINE, RESIN AND TAR.—FIG. 2. 


of the pine tree, and it is sometimes called white turpentine and gum tur¬ 
pentine. It is a mixture of the essential oil known as spirits of turpentino 
and of resin. A half-moon shaped box is cut in the tree, as near as possible 
to the surface of the ground. The shape of this “ box ” will be seen in 
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. The box cutting commences about the first of Decem¬ 
ber and continues till March—perhaps a few weeks longer if the spring is 
late. After cutting, the boxes are “ cornered ” by taking out a triangular 
piece at each end of the half moon. This is the commencement of the regu¬ 
lar season, and the boxes are now all tasked off. A “ task ” is usually ten 
thousand boxes, but we have known hands to tend eighteen thousand. 
These must be cornered once, and “ hacked ” about six times, from the first 
of spring until into November. The dipping (shown in Fig. 2) is done by 
task work, too, so many barrels or boxes per day being a task. This is 
accomplished with a spoon-shaped instrument and a peculiar twist of the 



















USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


271 


wrist, only well done by long practice. Two dippers generally attend one 
hacker. Hacking is the making a groove-shape cut on each side, downward 
to the center of the half moon. The grooves can be seen in all the cuts. 

The “ hacker ” is used with a downward stroke, and has at the lower 
end of the handle a weight of lead or iron, to give great impetus to the blow. 
The barrels for filling are placed at intervals through the woods; the dipper 
gathers his gum in a rude bucket, and empties it into the barrels, which, 
when filled, are hauled off. A frequent mode of hauling is seen in Fig. 1; 
the same cut shows a primitive but cheap mode of “ rolling ” tar to market. 
Both articles are frequently rafted to a seaport between sticks of hewn 
timber. 

The first year’s operation produces “virgin dip,” the second “yellow 



manufacture of turpentine, resin and tar. fig. 3. 


dip ” the third some common yellow dip and scrape; then the further pro¬ 
duct of the trees is all “scrape.” The virgin dip is, when carefully 
gathered, a honey-like gum, of whitish appearance. From it are produced 
No. 1, pale, extra, and window-glass resins. It yields about seven gallons o 
spirits; and not quite three-fourths of a barrel of resin to the barrel (two 
hundred and eighty pounds). Yellow dip yields over three-fourths of resm 
and about six gallons of spirits to the two hundred and eighty pounds of 
gum. Scrape yields about the same. “ Scrape ” is the gum which gathers 
on the face of the tree or box when worked up three, four or more feet 
higher. It is a white and cheesy-like substance. The operation of chipping 
the box face and gathering the scrape is seen in Figs. 3 and 4. With caie a 

verv light resin can be made from it. , , 

The operation of distilling the gum is carried on in turnip-shaped copper 
stills of a capacity from ten barrels up to sixty—the ordinary size emg 

















272 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


twenty and thirty barrels. They are bricked up at the sides, and the fire 
strikes directly on the bottom. The top has a large hole for the “cap,” 
which connects with the worm for condensing the spirits, and a small hole 
through which the “ stiller ” examines the state of his charge, and lets in 
water as it may be deemed necessary. The resin, being a residuum, is let off 
on one side into vats, through strainers, from which it is dipped into barrels' 
to cool. Many attempts have been made to use steam as a heating agent, 
but not yet with success. If the resin is not entirely free of either spirits 
or water it is opaque and loses value. 

The rear of the stills and the resin vats are shown in Fig. 5. Probably 
the largest distillery in the country is at Wilmington, N. C. 

In trees deadened by fire, stumps of trees cut down when the sap is up, 



MANUFACTURE OF TURPENTINE, RESIN AND TAR.—FIG. 4. 


and old box trees left standing, a peculiar transformation of the wood takes 
place; all its pores become filled with pitchy matter, it increases greatly in 
weight, and will take fire almost as readily as gunpowder. In this state it 
is called “ light wood,” because it is used for kindling, and with the poor as 
a substitute for candles or other light. The smothered burning of this wood 
is the source of tar. The wood is split into billets three or four feet long 
and about three inches in diameter. To form a tar kiln the operation is com¬ 
menced by scooping out of the ground a saucer-shaped foundation, making 
a hole in its middle, and thence running a wooden spout outside the rim of 
the foundation. Billets of wood are then placed radiating to this center hole 
and piled upward, each upper and outer stick lapping a little over, so that 
when finished, the pile (as shown in Fig. 6) resembles a cone with the point 
cut off, small end down; logs of wood and green twigs are then piled around, 
jind the kiln thus made is covered with dirt, the top as well as sides. The 



















UbEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


273 


fire is then lighted at the top eaves of the kiln, and the tar trickles down to 
the center hole, whence it runs out through the spout. A kiln yields fifty, 
one hundred or more barrels of tar, according to its size. Large iron retorts 
have been used, but the project is not sufficiently greater or more cleanly 
to pay for increased cost. In process of distillation a tar and pitch are 
obtained. Pitch is tar boiled down until all its volatile matter is driven off. 

Paper Money. —In the Treasury Department at Washington every 
dollar of United States money is made. Almost a million of dollars of old, 
worn-out money is counted and destroyed there daily. Of course new bills 
are printed to supply the place of those worn out and destroyed. 

When they are destroyed they are first counted by several persons, so 
that there can be no mistake, and the amounts marked. The money is then 



MANUFACTURE OF TURPENTINE, RESIN AND TAR.—FIG. 5. 

placed in a large receiver of iron, which is nearly the shape of two tin pans 
with the edges shut together, only very much larger—six or seven feet in 
diameter. To this iron receiver there is a door which is locked with three 
locks, each lock requiring a different kind of key. Three men, who are ap¬ 
pointed in accordance with law to witness the destruction of this money, 
have each one of the keys to this door. No one of the men can lend his key 
to either of the others or to any other person. Now, at the proper time of 
day these three men get together, and each one takes his key, and they un¬ 
lock the three locks of the door, which is then opened. All this old money 

_eo manv hundreds of thousands of dollars—is then carefully placed in the 

receiver, the door is closed, and the three men securely lock it. Water is 
then let in through a pipe, and a machine inside beats and grinds all these 
hundreds of thousands of dollars into the finest pulp. When it is sufficiently 
ground it is taken out and used to make paper of. 


















274 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 


As previously stated, new bills are printed to take the place of those 
destroyed, and also to supply money required to be used in the country. If 
you will look very carefully indeed at a new bill, you will notice that it is 
made of a peculiar kind of paper, very different from newspaper. It is very 
tough. Take a new bill, and you will find in the paper itself something that 
looks like a fine kind of hair running through each bill in one particular 
place. Now, that paper is made just so in order that no one may be able to 
counterfeit the bills, for the Government takes care that no one shall ever 
get even a sheet of that paper. So if a bill hasn’t got those hairs running 
through it in a particular place, we know at once it is worthless, or a 
“counterfeit” bill. 

This paper is first made in large sheets, and every sheet that comes in 
to be printed is carefully counted, so that if a single sheet were stolen or 



MANUFACTURE OF TURPENTINE, RESIN AND TAR.—FIG. 6. 

lost the theft or loss would be promptly detected. When the paper comes 
in, in great packages of these large sheets, each sheet is carefully moistened, 
so that it will take up the ink properly, and is then placed under a press, 
when a die or stamp of the most perfect workmanship makes an impression, 
of one color only, on one side. When it becomes dry it is moistened again, 
and is again placed under a press, and another impression of another color 
is made, and this process is repeated many times, till all the colors of both 
sides have been impressed. This printing is done in sheets, several bills 
being printed at once on one sheet. After this is done the sheets are dried 
and put under great pressure to take all wrinkles out and make them 
entirely smooth. The bills are then trimmed and separated by machinery, 
and numbered by a curious little machine that changes its number at 
every impression, thus, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., so that no two bills of the same kind 
have the same number on them. 

















275 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


Postal Cards_The country uses over three hundred million postal 

cards a year. This is a million a day, or several tons every twenty-four 
hours. They are manufactured by private corporations or firms, the Gov¬ 
ernment inviting bids and awarding the contract for their manufacture at 
stated intervals. The sheets are about thirty by twenty-two inches in size, 
and are just fitted by the plates from which the cards are printed, each plate 
covering forty cards, four in width and ten in length. The printing is done 
on Hoe super-royal presses, by skillful pressmen, and as each sheet passes 
into the press the number of cards is unerringly recorded by registers 
attached to the presses, and which are carefully locked every night to pre¬ 
vent any tampering. The sheets are then piled up and allowed to dry, in 
order that they may not be damaged by future handling. After drying thor¬ 
oughly, the sheets are then passed through the rotary slitter—a machine 
fitted with circular knives, which cuts them into strips of ten cards each, 
and Hms the edge of the outside strip. The strips are then passed trans¬ 
versely through the rotary cross-cutters, the mechanism of which is similar 
to the “ slitters.” The cross-cutters divide the strips into the single cards, 
which drop into a rotary hopper containing ten compartments. As soon as 
each compartment has received twenty-five cards, the hopper revolves and 
throws the cards out upon a table. A number of girls then take them, and 
bind the perfect ones in packs of twenty-five each. Other girls then take 
the packs, and, after recounting them, put them in pasteboard boxes con¬ 
taining twenty packs, or five hundred cards each. The cards are then 
ready for shipment to the various post-offices throughout the country. By 
the stipulation of the contract the manufacturers are required to keep at 
least ten million postal cards in store all the time. 


Postage Stamps.— In printing, steel plates are used, on which two 
hundred stamps are engraved. Two men are kept hard at work covering 
them with colored inks, and passing them to a man and a girl, who are 
equally busy at printing them with large rolling hand-presses. Three of 
these little squads are employed all the time, although ten presses can be 
put into use in case of necessity. After the small sheets of paper upon which 
the two hundred stamps are engraved have dried enough they are sent into 
another room and gummed. The gum used for this purpose is a peculiar 
composition, made of the powder of dried potatoes and other vegetables, 
mixed with water, which is better than any other material; for instance, gum 
arabic, which cracks the paper badly. This paper is of a peculiar texture, 
somewhat similar to that used for bank notes. After having been again 
dried this time on little racks, which are fanned by steam power, for about 
an hour they are put between sheets of pasteboard and pressed in hydraulic 
presses,’ capable of applying a weight of two thousand tons. The next thing 
is to cut the sheets in half, each sheet, of course, when cut, containing a 
hundred stamps. This is done by a girl, with a large pair of shears, by hand 
being preferred to that of machinery, which method would destroy too many 
stamps They are then passed to other squads, who, in as many operations, 
perforate the paper between the stamps. Next they are pressed once more, 
and then packed and labeled, and stowed away in another room, prepara¬ 
tory to being put in mail bags for despatching to fulfill orders. If a single 
stamp is torn, or in any way mutilated, the whole sheet of one hundred 
stamps is burned. Five hundred thousand are burned every week from 
this cause. For the past twenty years not a sheet has been lost, such care 
has been taken in counting them. Each sheet is counted eleven times. 


276 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Envelopes.— A modern envelope machine is one of the most interesting 
of mechanical novelties. All the manual labor that is required in attending 
to the machine is limited to the supply from time to time of a pile of envel¬ 
ope blanks, and the occasional removal and banding of the finished envel¬ 
opes. Thus the entire and various processes of feeding, gumming, stamping, 
folding, delivery, and collection are performed automatically by a series of 
mechanical operations devised with the utmost ingenuity and carried out 
in perfection; the machine withal being excessively compact and well ar¬ 
ranged. The pile of envelope blanks being placed in position on a plate at 
one end of the machine, which may be done either at rest or in motion, the 
feeding process is effected by the simple aid of intermittent suction. An 
elastic tube has a trumpet-shaped brass mouthpiece which descends on the 
uppermost blank, and at the moment of contact the air is exhausted by a 
stroke of the air-pump, when the mouthpiece rises with the blank attached; 
the suction being maintained just sufficiently long to enable the arm and 
grippers, rapidly projected from the other side of the machine, to seize the 
blank, when the attachment to the mouthpiece ceases and the arm shoots 
back, drawing the blank into position over the folding-box, and there rap¬ 
idly releasing it. At this moment the stamping is effected by the action of a 
hammer and die, and the gum is applied in due place on the edges of the 
side flaps, whereupon a plunger-head, of the rectangular form and size of 
the envelope, descends, carrying the blank down into the folding box; the 
flaps, thus raised into a vertical position, are then inclosed and folded down 
in proper sequence by slides working in the thickness of the folding box; 
and finally the bottom of the box rises and completes the operation by press¬ 
ing the whole against the slides, so that the edges are made sharp and the 
adhesion is effected and secured. The slides are then withdrawn, and the 
bottom of the folding-box drops, allowing the envelope to drop in a vertical 
position into the deli very-trough underneath, running across the machine, 
wherein, by a simple contrivance and combination of guides, holders, and 
pressers, the envelopes as they drop from the folding-box are successively, 
uniformly and regularly arranged, and worked along the trough ready for 
removal and banding by the attendant. These manifold operations are suc¬ 
cessively wrought with such speed that the finished envelopes are turned 
out complete at the rate of fifty per minute, or three thousand per hour. 

Paper Car Wheels, Etc. —Paper car wheels are composed entirely 
of paper rings pressed together under a weight of six tons, and then fastened 
by means of bolts and steel tire put on them, when they are ready for use. 
Laid loosely, the rings stack as high as the shoulders of an ordinary man. 
Under treatment they sink to the thickness required. If the tire should 
wear or fall off the wheel, or the train run from the track, there would be 
no danger of their breaking, as they are very flexible, and would spring. 
A paper ball can be rendered so solid that nothing but a diamond tool can 
cause an indentation into it. At the mill is a square block of compressed 
paper fastened on a turning lathe, and so hard that, if a fine steel chisel is 
held against it when it is moving, instead of cutting the paper it will break 
the chisel into a hundred pieces. The strength is astonishing. You can 
take a £5 note of the Bank of England, twist it into a kind of rope, suspend 
three hundred and thirty-nine pounds upon one end of it, and it will not in¬ 
jure it iu the slightest degree. Bath tubs and pots are formed by com¬ 
pressing the paper made out of linen fibres and annealed—that is, painted 
over with a composition which becomes a part thereof, and is fire-proof. 


m 


useful arts and manufactures. 

The tubs last indefinitely, never leak, and, put in the fire, will not burn up. 
You can beat on them with a hammer and not injure them. Plates com¬ 
pressed and annealed are very durable; you cannot only wash them, but 
drop them upon the floor and stand upon them. The fork can be used for 
any practical purpose, and the knife can always be kept sharp. Paper can 
be substituted for wood, converted into picture-frames and colored like wal- 
nut, cherry, and the like. Bedsteads are fashioned the same as car wheels, 
only of long strips instead of rings. They are very beautiful and lasting. 
Cooking or heating stoves are also annealed, and it is impossible to burn 
them out. They are less costly than iron. A house can be literally con¬ 
structed and furnished with every convenience in paper. The printing- 
press, type, and all the fixtures of the office could be concocted of this ma¬ 
terial, and more cheaply than of the ordinary kind. A complete steam- 
engine can be thus manufactured and do all required duty. Clothes and 
shoes will come in the future. Twenty-nine hours are needed to transfer 
linen fibre into a car 
wheel. 

Nails.— Formerly, all 
nails were hand made, by 
forging on an anvil; and 
vast quantities are still 
made in this manner, being 
preferable, for many kinds 
of carpenter’s work, to 
those made by machinery. 

The iron used for hand 
nail-making is sold in bun¬ 
dles, and is called nail- 
rods; it is either prepared 
by rolling the malleable 
iron into rods or small 
bars of the required thick¬ 
ness—which process is 
only employed for very . 

fine qualities—or by cutting plate iron into strips by means of rolling-shears, 
these shears consist of two powerful revolving shafts, upon which are fixed 
disks of hard steel with squared edges. The disks of one shaft alternate 
with those of the other; they are of the thickness of the plate to be cut, and 
the shafts are so placed that a small portion of one set of the disks are m- 
Berted between those of the other set. When .he shafts are revoWmgaptate 
of iron is pressed between the disks, and it is forcibly drawn tough. 
steel disks cutting the plates into strips with great rapidity gumtofr 

produced in this way is enormous, some mills turning out at the ratesot t 
miles Der hour of nail-rods. Several inventions, in which America took the 

lead, have been introduced, and are successfully WOTked for matogna^s 
direct from plate iron, either by cutting them out cold or tot, amdavery 
large proportion of the nails in use are made in this way. Nail-making by 
machinery was originated in Massachusetts in 1810. 

lead Pencils. -A lead pencil is in itself a small 



NAIL FORGE. 













278 CYCLOPAEDIA OP USE PUL KNOWLEDGE, 

requires a capital of about $100,000; the ground covered is about half an acre, 
chiefly occupied by drying houses for the storage of red cedar. The Florida 
red cedar is mostly used in this country and in Europe—some “ iben ” wood, 
as the Germans call it, or English yew, is used in Germany—white pine is 
occasionally used for a common grade of a carpenter’s pencil. The “ lead ” 
of the pencils is the well-known graphite or plumbago; the best of this is 
the natural, found in a pure state in masses large enough to cut into strips. 
Of this there is but one mine up to the standard, which is in Asiatic Siberia. 
What was formally refuse in cutting the graphite is now ground, cleaned, 
and refined, and then mixed with a fine clay. In mixing the clay and graph¬ 
ite, great care must be taken in selecting and cleaning the clay and getting 
the proper proportions; the mixture with water, after being well-kneaded, 
is placed in a large receiver and strongly compressed and forced out through 
a small groove in the bottom, in the shape of a thread the thickness and 
style required—either square, octagon, or round. This thread or lead wire 
is cut in bars of proper length (done by little girls), and then straightened, 
dried at a moderate heat, and packed in air-tight crucibles and placed in 
the furnaces; the grade of the lead depends upon the amount of clay used 
in mixing and the quality of the plumbago. The coloring of the lead is by 
various pigments. The wood, after being thoroughly seasoned, is cut into 
thin strips and then dried again, then cut into strips pencil length. These 
strips are grooved by machinery, then carried on a belt to the gluing room, 
where the lead is placed in the groove, and the other half of the pencil glued 
on. After being dried under pressure, they are sent to the turmng-room 
and rounded, squared, or made octagon by a very ingenious little machine, 
which passes them through three cutters and drops them ready for polishing 
or coloring—the former is done on lathes by boys, and the latter by a ma¬ 
chine which holds the brush and turns the pencils fed to it through a hop¬ 
per. After the pencil is polished, it is cut the exact length by a circular saw, 
and the end is cut smooth by a drop knife, the pencil resting on an iron bed. 
The stamping is done by a hollow die, which is heated; the gold or silver 
foil is then laid on the pencil, which rests on an iron bed, and the die is then 
pressed on it by a screw lever. 

Steel Pens—First the steel is rolled into big sheets. This is cut into 
strips about three inches wide. These strips are annealed; that is, they 
are heated to a red heat and permitted to cool very gradually, so that the 
brittleness is all removed and the steel is soft enough to be easily worked. 
Then the strips are again rolled to the required thickness, or rather thin¬ 
ness, for the average steel pen is not thicker than a sheet of thin letter paper. 
Next, the blank pen is cut out of the flat strip. On this the name of the 
maker or of the brand is stamped. Next, the pen is molded in a form 
which combines gracefulness with strength. The rounding enables the pen 
to hold the requisite ink and to distribute it more gradually than could be 
done with a flat blade. The little hole which is cut at the end of the slit 
serves to regulate the elasticity, and also facilitates the running of the ink. 
Then comes the process of hardening and tempering. The steel is heated to 
a cherry-red and then plunged suddenly into some cool substance. This at 
once changes the quality of the metal from that of a soft, lead-like sub¬ 
stance to a brittle, springy one. Then the temper of the steel must be 
drawn, for without this process it would be too brittle. The drawing con¬ 
sists of heating the pen until it reaches a certain color. The first color that 
appears is a straw color. This changes rapidly to a blue. The elasticity of 


USEFUL ALTS AND MANUFACTURES 


279 


the metal varies with the color, and is fastened at any point by instant plung¬ 
ing in cold water. The processes of slitting, polishing, pointing and finish¬ 
ing the pen are operations requiring dexterity, but by a long practice the 
workmen and workwomen become very expert. There have been few 
changes of late years, and the process of manufacture is much the same 
that it was twenty years ago, and the prices are rather uniform, ranging 
from seventy-five cents to four dollars a gross, according to the quality of 
the finish. 

Needles. —Needles are made from soft steel wire, which is received 
from the manufactory in coils. The wire is cut by fixed shears into length 
sufficient to make two needles. These blanks, being bent, require straight¬ 
ening, which is done by placing several thousand of them between two broad 
heavy rings, and heating them to redness in a furnace. They are then re¬ 
moved and placed, still in posi¬ 
tion within the rings, on a flat iron 
plate, and by means of a curved 
bar, termed a smooth file, rolled 
back and forth until perfectly 
straight. Each piece is then 
sharpened at both ends. The 
workman takes up a number at a 
time and holds the ends against a 
grindstone, forming the points. 

By means of a die and counterdie, 
two grooves are stamped by a 
press on each side of the wire, 
which is next pierced under a 
press with two holes forming the 
eyes. A number of pieces are 
then strung on two fine wires and 
broken each in two by filing and 
bending. The roughness about 
the head is removed by filing, 
several at a time being placed in 
a small vice. During these pro¬ 
cesses the needles, having become 
somewhat bent, are straightened by rolling on a flat plate, as before. They 
are now brought to a red heat, and tempered by plunging them into oil. 
Fifty thousand at a time are then put in a canvas bag with emery, oil, putty- 
powder, and soft-soap w and rolled to and fro under pressure until they be¬ 
come bright. The better class of needles have their eyes drilled. The final 
process is polishing the points, which is effected first by a rotating hone, 
and afterward by a buff-wheel. Of late years machines have been introduced 
by which needles are formed from the roll of wire without the intervention 
of hand labor. 

Kid G-loves.— 1 The best skins generally come from middle and south¬ 
eastern France. Fine seasons improve the quality of the skin greatly, as 
the animals are kept in the open air. In wet weather it is necessary to keep 
the kids housed. The pelt, as taken from the animal, is dried; then, through 
a series of baths, the hair and grease are removed, and the skin cleaned 
thoroughly. A most difficult stage of the business is tanning and dyeing 



MANUFACTURE OF NEEDLES.—DRILLING 
THE EYES. 


















$80 CYCLOPAEDIA OP VSPPUt PttO ,/S 

the leathers, so much skill being requisite to obtain the desired shades and 
colors. This is accomplished with the best success in France, as the French 
possess the art of leather-dyeing to a degree not yet attained by other 
nations. In order afterward to make the skin soft, full and flexible, it is fed 
with—actually absorbing quite a quantity of—a preparation of eggs, flour 
and egg-yelks. Subsequently the parts around the neck and shoulders, 
where the skin is thickest, are shaved with a sharp knife to render it uni¬ 
form in thickness throughout. The leather fully prepared is carefully ex¬ 
amined for imperfections; perfect skins are retained, imperfect ones laid 
aside. The cutting of material for kid gloves can only be done by hand, 
each piece being carefully measured in order to allow the proper stretching 
space. The stamping, which comprises cutting out the forifi of the glove, is 
done by machinery rapidly, as three pairs are usually stamped at one time. 
From the cutter they pass to the embroiderer, thence to the sewer, then to 
the button-hole maker, afterward to the finisher, who binds the w T rist, and 
finally to the person whose business is to pair and press them. The long 
mosquetaire gloves generally consume the entire skin of one kii. 

Tacks—Described in a few words, the process of making tacks is as 
follows: The iron, as received from the rolling mills, is in sheets from three 
inches to twelve inches wide and from three feet to nine feet in length, the 
thickness varying, according to ihe kind of work into which it is to be made, 
from one-eighth to one thirty-second of an inch. These sheets are all cut 
into about three-feet pieces, and by immersion in acid cleaned of the hard out¬ 
side flinty scale. They are then chopped into strips of a width correspond¬ 
ing to the length of the nail or tack required. Supposing the tack to be cut 
is an eight-ounce carpet tack, the strip of iron, as chopped and ready for the 
machine, would be about eleven-sixteenths of an inch thick and three feet 
long. The piece is placed firmly in the feeding apparatus, and by this ar¬ 
rangement carried between the knives and machine. At each revolution of 
the balance-wheel the knives cut off a small piece from the end of this plate. 
The piece cut off is pointed at one end, and square for forming the head at 
the other. It is then carried between two dies by the action of the knives, 
and these dies coming together form the body of the tack under the head. 
Enough of the iron projects beyond the face of the dies to form the head, 
and, while held firmly by them, a lever strikes this projecting piece into a 
round head. This, as we have said before, is all done during one revolution 
of the balance-wheel, and the knives, as soon as the tack drops from the 
machine, are ready to cut off another piece. These machines are run at the 
rate of about two hundred and fifty revolutions a minute. 

Brass, Etc.—Brass is a compound metal, or, as it is properly called, an 
alloy of copper and zinc; it was well known in the earlier stages of the arts, 
long before pure zinc was discovered, being made of copper and calamine 
stone, which is an ore of zinc. The manufacture of brass is said to have 
been introduced into England in 1649 by a German who settled at Esher in 
Surrey. Good brass is of a fine yellow color, ductile and very malleable 
when cold; when heated it is brittle, being in this respect a curious contrast 
to the zinc of which it is partially composed. Brass is the most convenient 
metal for making large fine screws, astronomical instruments, microscopes, 
and many other things requiring great exactness; as, notwithstanding its 
compactness of texture, it is easily wrought at the lathe. Britannia metal is 
composed of block tin, a small portion of antimony, and less than one-third 


281 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 

as much copper or brass. This compound, which is bright and silverv- 
looking, is now extensively used instead of pewter, and for many purposes 
to which pewter was never applied. It is very easy to work, both by roll¬ 
ing, casting, turning, and planing, as well as by stamping in dies; conse¬ 
quently, the articles made of it are almost unlimited in variety, and very 
cheaply produced; teapots, candlesticks, and spoons are among some of the 
most frequent applications of this metal. Pewter is a dull-looking alloy, 
used for making plates and dishes, beer measures, and larger vessels. For 
the first purpose it has very much gone out of use, being superseded by 
earthen ware; but in former times all houses were supplied with pewter arti¬ 
cles, and no small portion of the “plate,” belonging to the wealthy, was of 
this material. Good hard pewter is made of tin, copper, and antimony; but 
a very inferior kind, and that most frequently met with, is made chiefly of 
lead, with a very small proportion of tin and copper in addition. 

Sulphur.—Sulphur is a solid non-metallic mineral known from the 
remotest antiquity; it is hard, yellow, brittle, and has a disagreeable smell. 
Sulphur is found native in veins or beds mostly near active volcanoes; it is 
also found combined with iron, copper, lead, and antimony, forming the 
most abundant ore of those metals. Native sulphur is found massive, pow¬ 
dery, or cellular, and not unfrequently in large crystals, some of which 
measure four inches in length. Sulphur abounds in the mineral kingdom, 
but traces of it are found in both the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The 
bad smell of some plants, as asafcetida and garlic, is to be attributed to the 
sulphur they contain; it exists too in eggs and some other animal products; 
thus it is that eggs discolor silver spoons. The native sulphur imported 
comes mostly from Solfatra in Sicily, but large quantities are procured from 
iron and copper pyrites. These minerals are heated, and the sulphur being 
volatile flies off in fumes which are conveyed by pipes to a condensing 
room. If left in the powdery state in which it condenses it is called flour of 
sulphur; but, if melted and cast it makes roll sulphur. It is used in 
bleaching, for making gunpowder and matches; it is also used in medicine. 
One of the combinations of sulphur, sulphuric acid , called in commerce 
vitriol, is so largely used in the arts and manufactures, that it has been said 
the commercial prosperity of a country may be fairly estimated by the 
amount of sulphuric acid it consumes. 

Slate Pencils.—In making slate pencils broken slate is put into a mor¬ 
tar run by steam and pounded into small particles. Then it goes into a mill 
and runs into a “ bolting ” machine, such as is used in flouring mills, where 
it is “ bolted,” the fine, almost impalpable flour that results being taken to 
a mixing tub, where a small quantity of steatite flour similarly manufac¬ 
tured, is added together with other materials, the whole being made into a 
stiff dough. This dough is thoroughly kneaded by passing it several times 
between iron rollers. Thence it is conveyed to a table where it is made 
into “charges,” or short cylinders, four or five inches thick and containing 
eight to twelve pounds each. Four of these are placed in a strong iron 
chamber or “ retort,” with a changeable nozzle so as to regulate the size of 
the pencil, and subjected to tremendous hydraulic pressure under which the 
composition is pushed through the nozzle in the shape of a long cord, and 
pass over a sloping table slit at right angles with the cords to give passage to 
a knife which cuts them into lengths. They are then laid on boards to dry ? 
and after a few hours are removed to sheets of corrugated zinc, the corru- 


282 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


gation serving to prevent the pencil from warping during the process of 
baking, to which they are next subjected, in a kiln, into which superheated 
steam is introduced in pipes, the temperature being regulated according to 
the requirements of the article exposed to its influence. From the kiln, the 
articles go to the finishing and packing room, where the ends are thrust for 
a second under rapidly revolving emery wheels, and withdrawn neatly and 
smoothly pointed. They are then packed in pasteboard boxes, each con¬ 
taining one hundred pencils, and these boxes are in turn packed for ship¬ 
ment in wooden boxes, containing one hundred each, or ten thousand pen¬ 
cils in a shipping box. Nearly all the work is done by boys. 

Rubber Boots —The gum used is imported directly from Africa, South 
America, and Central America, that from Central America being best, while 
the African gum is the poorest. The raw gum, which is nearly white, is 
ground several times between immense fluted iron rollers, after which it 
passes through the composition room, which process is secret, but when it 
comes out, the gum has the black appearance of common rubber. The 
next process is that of passing the rubber between chilled iron cylinders, 
of many tons weight, which are kept very hot and very smooth. A part of 
the rubber intended for “ uppers,” is here spread upon and fastened to long 
sheets of cloth. The heels and taps are stamped out of sheets of gum of the 
required thickness. The rubber is now carried to the cutter’s room, where 
it is cut out and sent to the bootmakers. The boots are made by men, the 
shoes or ordinary rubbers by girls, while the overshoes are made by either. 
One man will make twelve or fourteen pairs of boots a day, and receive 
twenty cents a pair. An active girl will make from twenty-five to thirty 
pairs of rubbers. After the bootmaker is through they are placed in an 
oven, where for twelve hours they are subjected to a temperature of three 
hundred degrees. They are then ready for boxing and shipping. In one 
factory about four thousand pairs of boots, rubbers, and overshoes are 
turned out daily. 

Rubber Balls.— The rubber balls used in games are made in the fol¬ 
lowing manner: The sheets of rubber are cut into strips of double convex 
shape, or like the rind of an orange. The edges of the strips are moistened 
with a liquid, made of rubber and naptha, by which they are joined firmly 
together. This part of the work is generally done by girls, who soon be¬ 
come skillful workers. When the strips are joined, the ball is about the 
shape of a Brazil nut. Before the last opening is closed, some carbonate of 
ammonia is put inside. This causes the rubber to expand and fill out the 
ball mold. The molds are iron plates of the required shape. The ball is 
placed in its mold, and then, being heated, is pressed round. Sometimes 
explosions occur in molding, for rubber has considerable expansive force. 

Thimbles.— The manufacture of thimbles is very simple, but singularly 
interesting. Coin silver is mostly used, and is obtained by purchasing coin 
dollars. The first operation strikes a novice as almost wicked, for it is no¬ 
thing else than putting a lot of bright silver dollars, fresh from the mint, 
into dirty crucibles, and melting them up into solid ingots. These are 
rolled out into the required thickness, and cut by a stamp into circular 
pieces of any required size. A solid metal bar of the size of # the inside of the 
intended thimble, moved by powerful machinery up and down in a bottom¬ 
less mold of the outside of the same thimbles, bends the circular disks into 
the thimble shape as fast as they can be placed under the descending bar. 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


283 


Once in shape, the work of brightening, polishing, and decorating i3 done 
rip on a lathe. First, the blank form is fitted with a rapidly revolving rod. 
A slight touch of a sharp chisel takes a, thin shaving from the end, auother 
does the same on the side, and the third rounds off the rim. A round steel 
rod, dipped in oil, and pressed upon the surface, gives it a lustrous polish. 
Then a little revolving steel wheel, whose edge is a raised ornament, held 
against the revolving blank, prints that ornament just outside the rim. A 
second wheel prints a different ornament around the center, while a third 
wheel, with sharp points, makes the indentations on the lower half and end 
of the thimble. The inside i3 brightened and polished in a similar way, the 
thimble being held in a revolving mold. All that remains to be done is to 
boil the completed thimbles in soapsuds, to remove the oil, brush them up, 
and pack them for the trade. 

Crackers. —Inspecting one of the largest bakeries in New York City, a 
a visitor found a praiseworthy cleanliness in every part. On the second 
floor of the building there are five “ reel ” or cylinder ovens. These ovens, 
about twenty feet in diameter, have the fires at the bottom, and above the 
fire is a large wheel or cylinder. On the outer frame of this wheel are ten 
swinging trays. On these trays the crackers, as they are turned out from 
the stamping machine close by, are placed, and the wheel revolves slowly, 
lowering the next tray into position. Thus the wheel is kept in constant 
motion, the biscuit being removed from the trays after making one revolu¬ 
tion of the cylinder. , . 

In this bakery the weekly supply of materials is six hundred barrels 
of flour, three thousand pounds of butter, twenty thousands pounds of lard, 
eighty barrels of sugar, twenty-five barrels of molasses, fifteen barrels of 
ciTrrants, together with’ eggs, honey, cornstarch, and other necessary in¬ 
gredients. 

The mixing of the dough, the rolling and the stamping, are done by ma¬ 
chine. The mixing machine is on the second floor of the building. One 
shoot leading into this mixer, which is a large wooden cylinder, supplies the 
proper proportion of flour; another supplies the milk, another the sugar, an¬ 
other the water, etc. , , , , . , 


In the mixer there are three spoons or bars revolving alternately, which 
thoroughly mix the dough. It is then taken to the floor above, where a row 
of boxes is placed, in one of which the dough is put to “ rise.” When ready 
for baking, it is taken again to the floor below, unless it is to be used in 
making soft crackers. Here it is placed on large trays, and as the workmen 
knead it thev slice off large pieces of the dough and place it in a rolling ma¬ 
chine. It is rolled four or five times until it becomes of the proper thick¬ 
ness and it is then placed on the cracker-making machine. Before reaching 
the die it is passed beneath another roller, and at either side of the tray on 
which it is placed are knives, which trim it to the proper shape. From the 
roller the sheet of dough runs under the die, which cuts out the crackers, 
and at the same time stamps the name or other device and makes the pin¬ 


holes.” 

Tr» u+.Q.m-nincr smiare 



crackers, such as soda-biscuits, there is but little 


m CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


the end of the machine, where they fell npon the trays, which, as soon as 
they are full, are put upon the swinging shelves in the “ reel ” oven. The 
“ trimmings ” are taken up and again passed through the machine. This 
same plan is pursued in making all hard crackers, the quantity and kinds 
of ingredients, together with the flavoring used, varying according to the 
special variety to be made from the dough. 

On the third floor the soft crackers, such as macaroons, lady fingers, 
butter-scotch, honey cake, etc., are made. Four mixers for the dough of 
which these are made are placed on this floor. These goods are baked in 
square ovens. 

Some of the finer varieties of crackers are made by hand, but others, 
even of these, are made by ingeniously contrived machines. The visitor 
stood by and saw the method of making “ cocoanut drop cake.” A tray 
placed in a machine moved under an upright receptacle filled with the soft 
dough forming the body of the cake. This was fed through five or six holes, 
slowly dropping upon the pan. Another man then took the pan, and, turn¬ 
ing it upside down, pressed the soft cakes upon a surface of desiccated 
cocoanut spread on a sheet resting upon water in a tank. The cakes were 
then placed in one of the square ovens, and in less than five minutes the 
visitor had positive knowledge that a cocoanut drop cake is a delicious 
morsel. 

The fruit for fruit-crackers, the visitor was assured, is the best quality 
of dried currants. They are washed and dried, and are then carefully 
picked over by boys, and all imperfections removed. To make fruit- 
crackers, the process is much the same as with other hard crackers. One of 
the newest and most peculiar designs is the “ charcoal” cracker, in which a 
small proportion of charcoal is mixed with dough. This variety is in de¬ 
mand by dyspeptics, as are also oatmeal and graham crackers. 

Sardines.— These little finny creatures are caught in nets, and after 
being well washed the heads are cut off and the fish are sprinkled lightly 
with fine salt. After lying for a few hours they are placed on girds in rows 
almost perpendicular. The frames are then placed in pans containiug boil¬ 
ing olive oil. This oil is changed as often as it becomes too black and dirty 
for continuing the cooking process. As soon as the fish are considered 
sufficiently cooked they are withdrawn from the pans of oil, and the girds 
are placed on tables covered with zinc, the surface of the tables inclining 
toward a groove in the center. The oil is thus carried to a vessel prepared 
to receive it. Around these tables stand the women whose business it is to 
pack the fish closely and uniformly in boxes. The boxes being full, the fish 
are covered with fresh oil, and the lids of the boxes are then soldered down. 
Thus hermetically sealed they are placed in a wire basket and immersed in 
boiling water. The smaller boxes are thus boiled for about an hour, and 
the larger ones somewhat longer, in proportion to the size of the box. The 
fish are then ready for the market, and being packed in cases, are sent to 
the ends of the earth. 

Shoe Pegs —The timber used in the manufacture of shoe pegs is black 
and yellow birch, which is cut into pieces four feet in length, varying in 
diameter from eight to fourteen inches, and again cut into slices or blanks 
of the thickness desired for the length of the pegs. These are sorted and 
the knots cut out, and are then passed on to a long bench containing ma¬ 
chines composed of fluted rollers. The blanks are then run between these 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 


285 


rollers, which crease on both sides. They are then run through again to 
cross crease, or mark out the exact sizes of the pegs. They then go to the 
splitting machines, which are set with double knives, and cut the blanks 
into pegs. As they pass the last machine they are sorted, and all knots and 
discolored ones removed as they are brushed off into large baskets. The 
next process is bleaching, which is accomplished by the fumes of brimstone. 
They are then placed in large cylinders, which hold eleven barrels, and 
have six hundred steam pipes running through them, and revolve one and 
one-half times to the minute, drying two charges per day to each cylinder. 
They are then passed into large wooden casks, or cylinders, which, re¬ 
volving rapidly, polish them by the friction, the refuse falling through wire 
sieves or screen openings, after which they are again passed into a sifter, 
which separates all the single pegs and drops them into tubs or boxes, 
leaving those which have not been separated in the machine. They are 
then put in barrels ready for market. 

Cashmere Shawls. —The greater part of the wool for these exquisite 
fabrics, and we refer to the true cashmere shawls, is supplied not only from 
the Cashmere Yallev, but from Thibet and Tartary—the cashmere goat 
being distributed over certain portions of Central Asia. It is only the sum¬ 
mer wool that is used, and this is bleached by a preparation of rice flour. 
On plain shawls, the weaving is effected by a long, heavy and narrow 
shuttle, but this is superseded by wooden needles when the more ordinary 
variegated shawls are to be made. For each colored thread, a different 
needle is used. So slow is the process when the design is elaborate, that 
the completion of a square inch will occupy three persons for a day, and a 
shawl of remarkable beauty would take this number a year for its execution; 
but a number are engaged on the same shawl, according to the speed 
required. Singularly enough, it is only the inner side of the shawl that is 
exposed to the view of the workman, he being guided by the design placed 
before him and the directions of a skilled supervisor of the work. The 
thread is previously spun and dyed by women. The shawl worked with the 
needle is, however, far inferior to that in which the pattern is woven in. 
Sulphur fumes are employed to give the shawls the beautiful yellow color 
so much in request in the East. 

Sealskin Sacques. —Few of those wearing a sealskin sacque have any 
knowledge of the process by which the skins are prepared for use. Seen 
when first taken from the animal they little resemble the warm, glossy skins 
worn upon our streets, for until dyed and cured they are of a light brown 
hue, coarse and full of sand. Before becoming valuable they are shaved 
down on the flesh side until not thicker than paper, the long hairs are pull 3d 
out and the fur dyed. The cost of the article is due to the labor expended 
upon it. The raw skins are sold in London, where the finishing is done, and 
then shipped back to America, where they are sold with a heavy duty 
added. The killing season in Alaska begins about the 12th of June, and 
the one hundred thousand skins are usually ready for shipment a month 
later. The work of slaughtering the animals is done by natives who live 
upon the St. Paul and St. George Islands, and the process is an interesting 
one. When skins are wanted, the natives go to the rockeries, station them¬ 
selves along the shore, between the seals and the water, and, at a givfe. 
signal, spring to their feet and make as much noise as possible. The 
frightened victims, timid as deer, then stampede up the beach, and are 


286 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

driven like sheep a few miles inland until their captors attack them with 
hickory clubs. Being knocked senseless, they are stabbed with long sharp 
knives, and the skins are quickly stripped from the bodies. 

Matches.— Large planks are cut up into blocks, double the length of 
the match, and put one at a time upon the cutting machine. Two large 
knives, converging at the points, are driven back and forth upon the block, 
and numerous little clamps beneath, wide enough apart to pass one match 
between, are pressed up, each taking off a match at every passage of the 
knives, at the rate of sixty a minute. The particles are packed in square 
frames and placed in a kiln dryer, over the furnace, where they remain 
twenty-four hours. They are taken out, and by means of curious machines 
are coiled upon an ordinary cotton band. On each coil there is a gross, or 
one hundred and forty-four matches, and the band is between each layer. 
A curious arrangement of the machine is, that it will coil nothing but a per¬ 
fect match, and throws the defective ones aside. The coiling is slow, and 
and one man can tend five machines, which will ordinarily coil about one 
hundred and fifty gross per day. After the coil is made up, the ends are 
planed down even and put upon a hot iron, which opens the pores of the 
wood. Both ends are then dipped into melted brimstone, into a composition 
of phosphorus, glue and other materials, and hung upon racks for ten min¬ 
utes, at the end of which they are dry. The coils are then unrolled, the 
matches put in the square frame, cut in two in the middle, boxed and 
packed ready for shipment. The boxing is mostly done by boys and girls. 

Mirrors.— Looking-glasses used to be made by covering the plate with 
an amalgam of tin and mercury; but this has been superseded by deposit¬ 
ing a coat of real silver upon the glass, thi’own down in a smooth film by 
adding oil of cloves or other organic substances to a solution of ammonia- 
nitrate of silver, retained upon the plate by a raised rim of wax. The trouble 
with the process has been that, though cheaper, the plates are inferior in 
luster, and lack the “ black ” color which silversmiths regard as indicating 
perfection of polish. The loug-looked-for process of imparting the brilliancy 
of the mercurial coating to the cheap and durable film has at last been ac¬ 
complished by chemical reaction. After the silver plating is complete the 
film is flooded with a weak, aqueous solution of the double cyanide of mer¬ 
cury and potassium; slow decomposition takes place, and the mercury is 
precipitated, which immediately amalgamates with the silver film. The re¬ 
sult is said to be thoroughly satisfactory, the amalgam of silver being quite 
as brilliant as that of tin, and less subject to change, while the new process 
has the advantage of being readily applicable to the largest plates, which by 
the old method could be treated only with great difficulty, if at all. 

Combs.— One of the greatest comb manufactories in the world is in 
Aberdeen, Scotland. In this establishment there are an immense number 
of furnaces for preparing horns and tortoise shells for the combs, and be¬ 
tween one and two hundred iron screw-presses are constantly employed in 
stamping them. Steam power is employed to cut the combs, the operation 
being performed by this means with great efficiency. The coarse combs are 
stamped or cut out, two being cut in a place at one time by ingenious machin¬ 
ery. The fine dressing-combs and all small-tooth combs are cut by fine circu¬ 
lar saws, some so fine as to cut forty teeth in the space of one inch, and they 
revolve thousands of times in a minute; There are about two thousand 
varieties of combs made, and the aggregate number produced, of all these 


287 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 

different sorts of combs, is about nine millions annually. The annual con¬ 
sumption of ox-horns, hoofs, tortoise shell and buffalo horn is, of course, 
prodigious; even the waste, consisting of horn shavings and partings of 
hoofs, amounts to hundreds of tons in a year, and this becomes a valuable 
material in the manufacture of prussiate of potash, etc. 

Soda.—Soda is an alkali which was formerly obtained in large quanti¬ 
ties from the ashes of kali and various other marine plants growing on the 
shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and to which ashes the name of barilla is 
given; a more impure soda was obtained from kelp, which is the ashes of 
different sea-weeds found on the coasts of Ireland and Scotland; a large 
trade was formerly carried on in these articles, but it is now found cheaper 
to make soda by the decomposition of salt. The salt is put into a furnace, 
and sulphuric acid poured upon it; the heat first melts it, and then roasts 
it into sulphate of soda, or salt-cake , as it is called; this is afterward put into 
another furnace with an equal weight of carbonate of lime, either in the 
form of limestone or chalk, and half its weight of small coal; the whole is 
subjected to intense heat, during which many chemical changes take place. 
The mass, when finally raked out to cool, consists of black ash and ball 
soda, or British barilla; it is afterward separated from insoluble impurities 
by being dissolved in warm water; and, after being further purified in the 
furnace, becomes the soda of commerce, which is in fact carbonate of soda. 

Isinglass.—One of the most notable industries of Russia depends upon 
the sturgeon, the swim-bladder of which is manufactured into isinglass. 
The bladder is first placed in water, and left there for some days, with fre¬ 
quent changes of the water, and removal of all fatty and bloody particles, 
the warmer the water the more rapid being the operation. The bladders, 
on being removed, are cut longitudinally into sheets, which are exposed to 
the sun and air, being laid out to dry, with the outer face turned down, upon 
boards of lime-tree wood. Tbe inner face is pure isinglass, which, when 
dried, can be removed from the external lamella}. The inner sheets thus 
obtained are placed between cloths to keep them from flies, and are then 
subjected to a heavy pressure, so as to flatten them out and render them 
uniform; and after this they are assorted and tied in packets. The packets 
composed of the isinglass of the large sturgeon usually contain from ten to 
fifteen sheets, and weigh a pound and a quarter; and those of others con¬ 
tain twenty-five sheets, weighing a pound. Eighty of these packages are 
usually sewed up in a cloth bag or enclosed in sheet lead. 

Marbles.— The chief place of the manufacture of marbles-those little 
pieces of stone which contribute so largely to the enjoyment of boys—is at 
Oberstein, on the Nahe, in Germany, where there are large agate mills and 
quarries, the refuse of which is turned to good paying account by being 
made into small balls, employed by experts to knuckle with, and are mostly 
sent to the American market. The substance used in Saxony is a hard, cal¬ 
careous stone, which is first broken into blocks, nearly square, by blows 
with a hammer. These are thrown by the hundred or two into a small sort 
of mill, which is formed of a flat, stationary slab of stone, with a number of 
eccentric furrows upon its face. A block of oak or other hard wood 
of the diametric size, is placed over the stones and partly resting 
upon them. The small block of wood is kept revolving while water flows 
upon the stone slab. In about fifteen minutes the stones are turned into 
spheres, and then, being fit for sale, are henceforth called marbles. 


288 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


One establishment with but three mills, turns out sixty thousand marbles 
each week. 

Lace. —Lace is a species of net-work made of silk, thread, or cotton, 
upon which, in old times, patterns were embroidered by the needle after its 
construction. They are now, for the most part, formed during the knitting 
itself. The best laces are made at Mechlin, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and 
Valenciennes. Point lace is that embroidered by the needle and, from 
the great labor required, is the most expensive. In lace knit by hand as 
many threads are employed as the pattern and breadth require. These are 
wound upon the necessary number of bobbins made of bone (whence the 
name bone-lace), which are thrown over and under each other in various 
ways, so that the threads twine around pins stuck in the holes of the pattern 
(a stifLparcliment stretched on a pillow), and by these means produce the 
openings which give the desired figure. In that made by machinery, the 
meshes are all formed by a continuation of a single thread. 

Amber.— The following facts in regard to this substance will interest 
curious readers: Amber is the fossil resin produced by upward of six kinds 
of coniferous trees in prehistoric times. Two of these trees, of which im¬ 
mense forests covered the regions now producing amber, have been proved 
to be nearly related to the existing Weymouth pine and the modern fir-tree. 
While the wood of the trees rotted away, the resin oozed out of the stem of 
the tree as well as out of the roots, and was deposited eventually in immense 
quantities in the soil. In some of the pieces of the amber, bits of the wood 
and bark of the trees are found imbedded, and through this lucky accident 
have been preserved from decay. On examining this wood with the micro¬ 
scope, it is at once apparent that the trees were as intimated above, closely 
related to our modern conifer®, but were not absolutely identical with any 
of the existing species. Ages ago, the whole region now covered by the 
eastern part of the Baltic Sea was covered by these amber-producing trees. 
The largest European amber deposits are found on the Baltic shores of 
Northeastern Prussia. There, about eighty tons a year are at present dug 
up, anc'l the supply appears practically inexhaustible. 

Celluloid.— Celluloid is a composition of fine tissue paper and camphor, 
treated with chemicals by a patented process. A rather common impression 
that it contains gun-cotton is a mistake, which arises from confounding it 
with collodion. Celluloid, it is said, is entirely non-explosive, and burns 
only when in direct contact with flame. When crude it looks like trans¬ 
parent gum, aDd its color is a light yellow-brown. It can be made as har: 
as ivory, but is always elastic, and can be molded into any conceivable form. 
With equal ease it can be colored in any tint desired, the dye running 
through the entire substance, and being therefore ineffaceable, 'it can also 
be mottled to imitate the finest tortoise-shell. It is largely used in the man¬ 
ufacture of combs, hair brushes, hand mirrors, jewelry, knife handles, col- 
lars, cliffs, and many other articles. 

Clothes Pins. -Insignificant as the common wooden clothes pin is in 
itself, its manufacture forms no mean part in American industries, and the 
numerous factories in the New England and other States furnish employ¬ 
ment to thousands of persons. Beech, white birch, and poplar are the 
woods used in making the article, the birch and poplar being considered the 
best. The machinery employed is very simple. The wood is first sawed in 


USEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES . 


289 


logs four feet in length and then cut into small square sticks by means of a 
cutting machine. Each stick, after being rounded in a lathe, is passed into 
another machine, which throws out a number of perfectly formed pins at 
one cut and with great rapidity. The pins are then thrown into a large re¬ 
volving cylinder and smoothed by friction with each other. 

Screws.— The process of making a screw is very interesting. The 
rough, large wire in big coil3 is, by drawing through a hole smaller than 
itself, made the size needed. Then it goes into a machine that at one mo¬ 
ment cuts it a proper length, and makes a head on it. Then it is put into 
sawdust and “rattled,” and thus brightened. Then the head is shaved 
down smoothly to the proper size and the nick put in at the same time. 
After “ rattling ” again in sawdust the thread is cut by another machine, 
and after another “ rattling,” and thorough drying, the screws are assorted 
by hand (the fingers of those who do this move almost literally like light¬ 
ning), grossed by weight, and packed for shipping. That which renders it 
possible for machines to do all this is a little thing that resembles and opens 
and shuts like a goose’s bill, which picks up a single screw at a time, carries 
it where needed, holds it until grasped by something else, and returns for 
another. 

Whalebone. —Whalebone represents an enormous development of the 
gum of the whale, and exists in the living animal in the foi m of two rows of 
plates, which, like a great double fringe, hang or depend from its palate. 
From one hundred and fifty to two hundred of these plates exist in the 
mouth of a whale, and the largest plates may measure from eight to ten or 
twelve feet in length. The inner edges of these whalebone plates exhibit a 
fringed or frayed-out appearance, and the whole apparatus is adapted to 
serve as a kind of gigantic sieve or strainer. Thus, when the whale fills the 
mouth with water, large numbers of small or minute animals, allied to 
jelly-fishes and the like, are engulfed and drawn into the capacious mouth 
cavity. The water is allowed to escape by the sides of the mouth, but its 
solid animal contents are strained and entangled by the whalebone fringes, 
and when a sufficient quantity of food has been captured in this way, the 
morsel is duly swallowed. 

Spools _The birch from which spools are made is first sawed into sucks 

four or five feet long and seven-eighths of an inch to three inches square, 
according to the size of the spool to be produced. These sticks are thor- 
ou°hlv seasoned. They are sawed into short blocks, and the blocks are 
dried*in a hot-air kiln. At the time they are sawed a hole is bored tAough 
them. One whirl of the little block against sharp knifes, shaped by a pat¬ 
tern makes the spool at the rate of one per second. A small boy feeds the 
spool machine, simplv placing the blocks in a spout and throwing out the 
knotty or defective stock. The machine is automatic, but cannot do the 
sorting. The spools are revolved rapidly in drums and polish themsehes. 
For some purposes they are dyed yellow, red, or black. They are made 
into thousands of shapes and sizes. One factory turns out one hundred thou- 
sand gross a day, and consumes two thousand five hundred cords of birch 
wood a<jpiually. 

pins. _A snappish, voracious little dwarf of a machine pulls in the wires, 

bites it off by inches incessantly, one hundred and forty bites a minute, and 
just as it seizes each bite a saucy little hammer, with a concave face, hits 


290 (JYGLOPjEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the end of the wire three taps, and “ upsets ” it to a head, while he grips it 
in a countersunk hole between his teeth, and lays it sideways in a groove, 
where levers and springs, playing like lightning, point the pins, and whence 
they are dropped into a box. The pins are then polished, and two very in¬ 
telligent machines reject every crooked pin. Another automaton assorts 
half a dozen lengths, and a perfect genius of a machine hangs the pins by 
the heads and transfers them to slips of paper, and by one movement sticks 
them all through two corrugated ridges in the paper, when the work is 
finished. The pin machine is one of the nearest approaches to the dexterity 
of the human hand that has been invented. It is about the size of a sewing 
machine, which it closely resembles. 

Musk _Musk, a strong odor procured from the musk-deer, is very 

largely used in the manufacture of bouquets. It is one of the most powerful 
perfumes known, and articles on 'which it is used retain their odor for years. 
One of the most striking examples of this is illustrated in the Mosque of St. 
Sophia, in Constantinople, the mortar used in the building of which was im¬ 
pregnated with this substance; and although centuries have elapsed since the 
building was erected, the scent of the musk is yet plainly discernible. The 
best musk comes from Tonquin and Thibet, but the deer is found through¬ 
out the whole length of the Himalayan chain. The scent is found beneath 
the skin, and near the navel of the animal, which is not bigger than a gray- 
hound, and is often caught in snares, though it is generally hunted as we do 
hares. 

Shot. —A shot tower is an immense brick structure, one hundred and 
fifty feet high, resembling a lighthouse more than anything else. Visitors 
are conducted up a spiral staircase inside to the top, where a fine view is 
obtained for miles about, but the view down the inside is not so pleasant. 
The opening where the shot descends becomes narrower and narrower, 
until nothing is seen at the bottom but darkness. At the top of the tower 
are the furnaces for smelting. From these lead is poured into pans set in 
the tower, with perforated sheet-iron bottoms. The melted lead comes 
through these holes and enlarges on the other side, formed into globules 
before it falls down to the well beneath holding several feet of water. The 
large shot drop the whole height of the tower to the bottom, but the smaller 
sizes only about half as far. One peculiar thing is that smaller shot gen¬ 
erally expand in falling, and the larger sizes contract. 

Gum Arabic —After the rainy season in Morocco, a gummy juice ex¬ 
udes spontaneously from the trunk and branches of the acacia. It gradu¬ 
ally thickens in the furrow down which it runs, and assumes the form of 
uval and round drops, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, of different colors, 
as it comes down from the red or white gum tree. About the middle of De¬ 
cember the Moors encamp on the borders of the forest, and the harvest 
lasts a full month. The gum is packed in large leather sacks, and trans¬ 
ported on the backs of camels and bullocks to seaports for shipment. The 
harvest occasion is one of great rejoicing, and the people, for the time being, 
almost live on the gum, which is nutritious and fattening. 

Putty. —The best putty is made of raw linseed oil and whiting, the 
latter being simply chalk, ground in a mill like flour. It comes out with a 
fine flint grit in it. Before making putty out of it a few old-fashioned men, 
who believe in making the best of everything, wash the grit out. The fine 


trSEFUL ARTS AND MANUFACTURES . 


‘291 

flour is then dried. If it is not dried perfectly it takes up more oil than is 
desirable or profitable. From five hundred to six hundred pounds—about 
fifteen per cent, by weight of raw oil to eighty-five per cent, of whiting—are 
put in a chaser and thoroughly mixed. The chaser is a circular trough, ten 
feet in diameter. From a vertical shaft m the center two arms extend, on 
the ends of which are heavy iron wheels that rest in the trough. When the 
shaft revolves the wheels chase each other around the trough. When 
mixed it is packed in bladders for convenience in handling. 

Buttons.— In making metal buttons, circular disks, called “ blanks,” 
are first cut out of sheet brass or other metal by means of fly-presses, usu¬ 
ally worked by girls. The fly-press consists of a vertical iron screw with a 
triple thread, to which screw is attached a horizontal arm, bending down¬ 
wards at the end to form a handle. A punch attached to the press rises and 
falls with the motion of this handle, and rapidly cuts out the blanks. When 
large quantities of one pattern are required, a self-feeding, self-acting ma¬ 
chine is used, which cuts out the blanks in rows at one blow, turning them 
out at the rate of two thousand gross per day. After being annealed, the 
blanks are next made convex by a blow from a stamp. The shanks are 
formed of wire by a separate machine, which cuts off pieces, and bends them 
into loops of the required form. When these are soldered on, the buttons 
are dressed on a lathe. They are then gilded and burnished; some, how¬ 
ever, are only lacquered; and some, though gilt, are finished in a dead or 
frosted style. Buttons with holes, technically called “ four-holes,” “ three- 
holes,” and “two-holes,” when of pearl shell, wood, bone, or ivory, are cut 
with a tubular saw, turned separately in a lathe, and drilled. When of 
metal, the blanks are punched, then stamped in dies to the required form; 
the holes are punched, and “ rymered ” to round the sharp edges that would 
otherwise cut the thread. Glass buttons are most largely made by taking 
a rod of glass of any color, softening the end by heat, and pressing it into a 
mold, each half of which is fixed to one limb of a pair of pincers. The shank 
is placed into a hole in the mold before the melted glass is inserted. 

Chewing* Gum. —Forty thousand dollars’ worth of chewing gum is 
gathered in the State of Maine every year. The gum is found chiefly in the 
region about Umbagog Lake and about the Rangely lakes. A number of 
men do nothing else in the winter season except collect gum. With snow- 
shoes, ax, and a sheboygan, on which is packed the gum, they spend days 
and nights in the woods. The clear, pure lumps of gum are sold in their 
native state, the best bringing one dollar per pound. Gum not immediately 
merchantable is refined by a peculiar process. Sieve-like boxes are covered 
with spruce boughs, on which is placed the gum. Steam is introduced 
underneath. The gum, as melted, is strained by the boughs, and then 
passes into warm water, where it is kept from hardening until the packer 
takes it out, draws it into sticks, and wrap* it in tissue paper, when it is 
ready for market. 



TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 


Tea.— Tea is composed of the leaves of a shrub grown chiefly in China, 
and Japan, of which countries it is a native. It is an evergreen, grows to 
the height of from four to six feet, and bears pretty white flowers, resem¬ 
bling the wild rose. There are several va¬ 
rieties of the tea plant; those most culti¬ 
vated are Thea bohea and Thea viridis; it 
was formerly believed that these two plants 
yielded the black and green teas, and from 
this belief they derived their names; but it 
is now proved that the difference arises in 
the mode of preparing, and that either kind 
of tea can be made from either plant with¬ 
out any difficulty. 

In China there are great numbers of 
tea-farms, generally of small extent, situ¬ 
ated on the upper valleys, and on the 
sloping sides of the hills, where the soil is 
light and rich, and well drained. The 
plants are raised from seed, and generally 
allowed to remain three years before a 
crop of leaves is taken from them, as this 
operation of course injures their growth; 
even with care they become stunted, and 
unprofitable in about eight or ten years. 
tea-plant, flower and leaf. When the crop is ready, the leaves are 

carefully picked by hand one by one, and 
there are usually three or four gatherings in each year, the first crop in the 
spring being of the most value; a well-grown bush, well treated, will pro¬ 
duce two or three pounds of tea annually. 

The method of preparation is as follows: For green tea, the leaves are 
only allowed to dry for an hour or two after gathering, before they are 
thrown into heated roasting-pans placed over a wood-fire; they are stirred 
quickly with the hands, and allowed to remain for a few minutes; they are 
next rolled by hand on a table covered with mats, and afterward roasted 
and rolled again; the color is by this time set, and the after-processes of 
sorting and refiring, which, for the finer sorts, are repeated several times, 
may be deferred to a leisure time. In the preparation of black tea the 
leaves are allowed to remain a long time, say a whole day, drying, before 
they are fired; they are tossed about and patted while cooling, and are 
finally dried over a much slower fire. 

The tea is sent from the farms to the coast for exportation, mostly by 
coolies, who carry the chests over the mountains till they reach some navi¬ 
gable river or canal, by which it can be conveyed to the coast. It is said to 
be a curious sight to watch, from the top of a wild mountain-pass, long 





293 


TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS , ETC. 

trains of coolies laden with chests of tea, which they carry on their shoul¬ 
ders or balanced at each end of a bamboo, winding along in one direction, 
and others returning laden with cotton goods and other merchandise 
received in exchange. 

Tea was first brought to Europe in 1610 by the Dutch East India Com¬ 
pany; and it must have been in use in England by the year 1660, as appears 
from an act of Parliament passed in that year, in which a tax of Is. 6d. was 
laid on every gallon ot tea sold at the coffee-houses. There is also the fol¬ 
lowing entry in “ Pepy’s Diary,” dated September 25,1651: “ I did send for a 



A TEA FARM. 

cup of tea (a China drink), of which I had never drunk before.” In six years 
more it had found its way into his own house, as this entry shows: “ Home 
—found my wife making of tea, a drink which Mr. Pelling the potticary tells 
her is good for her cold,” etc. About this time the East India Company or¬ 
dered “ one hundred pounds weight of goode tev ” to be sent home on specu¬ 
lation. The price was about fifty or sixty shillings the pound, and two 
pounds three ounces of the best tea was not deemed an unfitting present 
from the East India Company to the king. But so greatly has the exporta¬ 
tion increased, that now more than fifty thousand ton3 of shipping are em¬ 
ployed in its transportation, while it is consumed at the present moment by 















294 CYCLOPEDIA OF XTSEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

probably not less than five hundred millions of men. Still, so vast is the 
home consumption that it is alleged that, were Europeans and Americans 
to abandon its use altogether, the price would not be much diminished in 
China. 

Coffee.—Coffee is the seed of an evergreen shrub, the Coffea Arcibica , 
which is said to have been discovered in Abyssinia by the Arabs. It is 
chiefly cultivated in Arabia, the Southern States ot North America, Costa 
Rica, Brazil, and other tropical portions of South America, the East and 



A COFFEE PLANTATION. 

West Indies, Java, and Ceylon; but the climate of Arabia, where it was first 
cultivated, appears to be most suited to its growth; frequent rains, and the 
brilliant unshaded light of its almost cloudless sky, stimulate vegetation, 
and cause the secretion of those principles on which depend the delicate 
aroma. 

Elevated situations are most suitable for the growth of coffee, and the 
plantations have much the appearance of pleasure-grounds. The trees are 
raised from slips, which are allowed four or five years to grow before they 
are cropped; they attain the height of eight or ten feet, and continue in 














295 


TREES , PLANTS, FRUITS , ETC. 

bearing from thirty to fifty years. The shrub or tree resembles a hand¬ 
some laurel, and bears a profusion of clusters of fragrant white flowers, 
which are succeeded by brilliant red berries, sweet and pulpy, which ripen 
to a purple color—each containing two coffee-seeds, or stones. 

The process of preparing coffee for market, says a writer in Scribner's 
Magazine , is as follows: The ripe berries when picked are at first put 
through a machine called the “ despulpador,” which removes the pulp; the 
coffee grains are still covered with a sort of glutinous substance which ad¬ 
heres to the bean; they are now spread out on large “ patios,” made 
specially for this purpose, and left there, being occasionally tossed about 
and turned over with 
wooden Bhovels un¬ 
til they are perfectly 
dry. They are then 
gathered up and put 
into the “ retrilla,” a 
circular trough in 
which a heavy wood¬ 
en wheel, shod with 
steel, is made to re¬ 
volve, so as to thor¬ 
oughly break the 
husk without Crush¬ 
ing the bean. The 
chaff i s separated 
from the grain by 
means of a fanning- 
mill, and the coffee is 
now thoroughly dry 
and clean. After 
this, it is the custom 
of some planters to 
have it spread out on 
long tables and care¬ 
fully picked over by 
the Indian women 
and children, all the 
bad beans being 
thrown out. It only 
remains then to have 
it put into bags, 
weighed and marked, the cacao tbee. 

before it is ready for 

shipment to the port. On some of the larger plantations this process is 
greatly simplified, with considerable saving in time and labor, by the use of 
improved machinery for drying and cleaning the coffee. 

Cocoa and Chocolate.—Cocoa is the bruised seed of various species 
of Iheobroma, a tree which grows wild in the West India Islands, Brazil, 
and various parts of Central America, where it is generally found growing 
at the height of six hundred feet above the level of the sea. The cocoa, or, 
as it should be written, cacao , tree is an evergreen, and is said to bear some 
resemblance to a young cherry-tree; the leaves are large and simple, the 




296 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


flowers grow in clusters, the pods are not unlike cucumbers in form, and of 
a yellowish red color; they contain from twenty to thirty nuts, about the 
size of large almonds, violet, or ash-gray colored, and containing each two 
lobes of a brownish hue. A wet soil is needful in cultivation, and the 
plants also requiring shade, they are generally placed between rows of large 
trees, which render the plantations very charming spots in tropical regions; 
the plants are raised from seed, and are seven or eight years in coming to 
perfection, but require so little attention that one man cau superintend one 
thousand plants; the usual times of gathering the crop are in June and De¬ 
cember, and not more than one pound and a half of seeds is the average 
produce of each plant. The fruit of the wild plants is frequently gathered. 
In preparing the cacao for market, the seeds, after being freed from the 
pod, are dried either in the sun or by artificial heat; they are then either 
simply bruised, which makes cocoa-nibs, or crushed between rollers, which 
makes flake cocoa; or they are ground and made into a paste, in which state 
they are very often adulterated. 

Chocolate is so called from chocolalt, the Mexican name for the cacao- 
tree. The produce of several of the finest kinds is not exported; the best 
that reaches us is from Caraccas, Guatemala and Berbice. The method of 
preparation is as follows: The cacao-beans are gently roasted, shelled and 
reduced to a paste, when vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, rice, almonds, or 
starch, etc., are frequently added to it; it is put into molds, and always 
improves by keeping. 

Cotton.—Cotton is a downy substance produced on the seeds of the cot¬ 
ton plant, Gossypium, which is herbaceous, and ot a height varying from 
four to twenty feet, according to the species; it has dow r ny lobed leaves, and 
flowers similar in form to those of the common mallow, to which it is re¬ 
lated; in some species the flower is yellow*, and in others of a dull purple 
color. The seed-vessel is a capsule, which opens into from three to five 
lobes, and shows the seeds, which are quite covered with cotton; in some 
cases this is of a bright buff color, and sometimes it is white. Plants are 
often covered with hairs in different parts, some having dowrny stalks, and 
some downy leaves like the mullein; but it is remarkable that hairs on the 
seeds are not at all common, being in fact very much confined to those 
plants which are allied to the cotton-plant. The cotton-plant seems to have 
been indigenous in both the Old World and the New; it has been known in 
India from time immemorial, and still grow T s wild in many parts. When the 
Spaniards first landed in America they found it growing wild there; the 
species native to the different continents are very dissimilar; but both are 
grown in the present day in India as well as in America. Dr. Livingstone, 
the great modern discoverer, in describing the new land he has brought to 
light in Central Africa, says that both cotton and indigo grow wild over the 
face of the country, which appears eminently fitted for their cultivation. 

In every mode of spinning cotton the ends to be accomplished are, to 
draw out the loose fibres of the cotton-wool in a regular and continuous 
line, and after reducing the fleecy roll to the requisite tenuity, to twist it 
into a thread. Previous to the operation of spinning, the cotton must have 
undergone the process of carding, the effect of which is to comb out, 
straighten and lay parallel to each other its entangled fibres. The cotton 
was formerly stripped off the cards in loose rolls, called cardings or 
slivers, and the only difference between the slivers produced by the old 
hand-cards and those produced by the present carding engine is, that the 


TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 


297 



THE COTTON PLANT. 

former were in lengths of a few inches, and the latter are of a length of 
some hundreds of yards. Let it he remarked that the sliver ot carding re- 










298 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

quires to be drawn out to a considerably greater fineness before it is of tha 
proper thickness to be twisted into a thread. The way in which this is 
now accomplished is by two or more pairs of small rollers placed hori¬ 
zontally, the upper and lower roller of each pair revolving in contact; the 
sliver of cotton being put between the first pair of rollers is, by their revolu¬ 
tion, drawn through and compressed; whilst still passing through these 
rollers, it is caught by another pair of rollers placed immediately in front, 


PICKING COTTON. 

which revolve with three, four or five times the velocity of the first pair, 
and therefore draw out the sliver to three, four or five times its former 
length and degree of fineness. After passing through the last pair of rollers 
the reduced sliver is attached to a spindle and fly-wheel, the rapid revolu¬ 
tions of which twist it into a thread, and at the same time wind it upon a 
bobbin. It is manifest that, by increasing tUe length of roller and the num¬ 
ber of slivers, a hundred or a thousand threads could be drawn out and 
spun as easily as one. This is the invention generally ascribed to Sir 















299 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , -ETC 1 . 

Richard Arkwright, hut which others attribute to a John Wyatt, whose 
partner, a man named Lewis Paul, took out a patent in 1708 for this very 
machine. Another invention was made in about 1764, by a poor man named 
Hargreaves; he called it a spinning jenny, and it is said that he received the 
original idea of it from seeing a common one-thread spinning-wheel over¬ 
turned upon the floor, when both the wheel and spindle continued to revolve; 
this suggested to him the notion of making a frame in which a number ol 
upright spindles should revolve side by side, and all be turned by the 
motion of the wheel. At first only eight spindles were attached to a frame, 
but more were added and many other improvements made. These two 
machines were used to spin all the cotton yarn up to the year 1779, when 
another improved machine, called the mule-jenny, was invented by Mr. 
Samuel Crompton, who was himself a weaver, and worked his new machine 
with his own hands in an attic. The great feature of this new invention was, 
that it stretched the yarn very gently and steadily after it was twisted, and 
this produced a much stronger and finer material than any that had been 
made before. Until the use of this machine it was thought impossible to 
spin more than eighty hanks of thread, each measuring eight hundred and 
forty yards, from one pound of cotton, whereas with it three hundred and 
fifty hanks of the same length have been spun from the same weight. 

The seed of the cotton is planted in March, April and May; and the cotton 
is gathered by hand a day or two after the pods burst, which is in August, 
September or October. It is carefully planted in rows five feet apart, and 
with a foot and a half between each plant; it is well weeded, thinned, and 
pruned. In India the cultivation is much more careless, and the quality of 
the cotton is consequently very inferior. A field of cotton ready for gather¬ 
ing is very beautiful, when the globes of snowy or cream-colored wool are 
relieved against the dark glossy leaves; and in the hottest climates this 
effect is still further heightened by the beautiful yellow or purple flowers 
being still out on many plants, while others bear the ripe cotton. 

It is stated that all the countries in the world could never have prepared 
for use the quantities of cotton now consumed had it not been for the inven¬ 
tion of the cotton-gin, by Mr. Eli Whitney, of Connecticut. Cotton that re¬ 
quired a hand a day to clean a pound, by this machine could be prepared 
better for market at the rate of three hundred pounds per day. The cotton 
is seized by rows of teeth formed of strong wires projecting from a roller, or 
by teeth like those of a saw, made upon circular plates of iron. These pass 
between grate bars, set so closely together that the seed cannot pass 
through, but the cotton is drawn in, and afterward swept off by a cylindrical 
brush. The importance of this invention cannot be overrated. It gave an 
impetus to the cultivation of cotton, and consequently its consumption, that 
revolutionized the industrial interests of the country. 

There is both a tree and shrub cotton; the former grows in India, China 
and Egypt, and some other parts of Africa. The cotton shrub is more cul¬ 
tivated than the tree, and more closely resembles the herbaceous kind. The 
best cotton grows on the sandy shores and small low islands along the sea 
ooast of South Carolina and Georgia. The cotton plant likes a dry sandy 
soil, with a great admixture of salt, and if the plants be within the influence 
of the salt sea spray, the fibres of the cotton will be longer and finer in con¬ 
sequence. This best kind of cotton, which is commonly called Sea-Island 
Cotton , is much longer in its fibre than any other; it is strong and even 
silky in texture, and has a yellowish hue. It is believed that Persia is the 
native country of this species of cotton. 


300 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

Flax.—The most common variety of the flax plant has a very slender 
erect stem, two or three feet high, branching only near the top, so as to form 
a loose corymb of flowers. The leaves are small, distant, and lanceolate; 
the flowers of a beautiful blue, rarely white, rather broader than a sixpence; 
the petals slightly notched along the margin; the sepals ovate, three- 
nerved, ciliated, destitute of glands; the capsules scarcely longer than the 
calyx, not bursting open elastically, but firmly retaining their seeds, which 

are dark brown, glossy, oval-oblong, flat¬ 
tened, with acute edges, pointed at one end, 
and about a line in length. This plant is 
highly valuable both for the fibres of its 
inner bark and for its seeds. The fibres of 
the inner bark, when separated both from 
the bark and from the inner woody portion 
of the stem, are flax or lint, the well-known 
material of which linen thread and cloth are 
made, and used equally for the finest and 
coarsest fabrics, for the most delicate cam¬ 
bric or exquisite lace, and for the strongest 
sail-cloth. The seeds yield by expression 
the fixed oil called linseed oil, so much 
used for mixing paints, making varnishes, 
etc.; whilst the remaining crushed mass is 
the linseed cake, or oil cake, greatly 
esteemed for feeding cattle, and when 
ground to a fine powder, becomes the lin¬ 
seed meal so useful for poultices. 

When the seeds are beginning to change 
from a green to a pale brown, is the best 
time for pulling flax. "Where the crop grows 
of different lengths, these lengths should be 
pulled and kept separately, uniformity in 
this respect being of great value in the after¬ 
processes. The process first gone through 
after pulling is rippling —which consists in 
tearing off the bolls by pulling the stalks 
through a series of iron teeth eighteen inches 
long, placed within a distance of half an inch 
of each other. These are fastened in a 
block of wood, which is placed at the end of 
a plank or long stool on which the operator 
sits. The next process is to obtain the flaxen 
fibre or lint free from the woody core, or 
boon , of the stem. This is effected by steep¬ 
ing the bundles in water till the boon begins 
to rot, in which state it is readily separated from the fibre. The operation 
is called rotting or retting , and requires to be managed with great care, as by 
continuing it too long, decomposition might extend to the fibre, and render 
it useless; while by discontinuing it too soon, the separation could not be 
effected with sufficient ease. The time is generally determined by the 
nature and temperature of the water and the ripeness of the flax. After 
being sufficiently steeped, the flax is spread out on the grass, to rectify any 
defect in the retting, and ultimately to dry it for the breaking. It is now 




301 


TREES , PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 


ready to be freed completely of its woody particles. This is effected by 
scutching. Previous to this, however, the flax is passed through a brake or 
revolving rollers, in order thoroughly to crack the boon. The brake, worked 
by manual labor, consists of a frame, in the upper side of which are a number 
of grooves; a movable piece is hinged at one end, and provided with a simi¬ 
lar grooved piece on its lower side, but so placed that the projections pass 
into the hollows of the lower. The flax, placed between these, and struck 
by bringing down the hinged part, is broken, but the fibre remains uninjured. 



Hemp.—Like flax, hemp adapts itself to diversities of climate, and is 
cultivated equally 
under the burning 
sun of the tropics, 
and in the northern 
parts of Russia. It 
is, however, readily 
injured by frost, 
particularly when 
young; and in many 
countries where it 
is cultivated, it suc¬ 
ceeds only because 
their summer is 
sufficient for its 
whole life. It varies 
very muchin height, 
according to the soil 
and climate, being 
sometimes only 
three or four feet, 
and sometimes fif¬ 
teen or twenty feet, 
or even more. The 
flowers are yellow¬ 
ish green, small and 
numerous; the male 
flowers in axillary 
racemes on the up¬ 
per parts of the 
plant; the female 
flowers in short ax¬ 
illary, and rather 
crowded spikes. 

The female plants 
are higher and stronger than the male. The stem of hemp is hollow or only 
rilled with a soft pith. This pith is surrounded by a tender, brittle sub¬ 
stance, consisting chiefly of cellular tissue, with some woody fibre, which 
is called the reed, boon, or shove of hemp. Over this is the thin bark, com¬ 
posed chiefly of fibres extending in a parallel direction along the stalk, with 
an outer membrane or cuticle. 

Hemp is cultivated for its fibre in almost all countries of Europe, and in 
many other temperate parts of the world; most extensively in Poland, and 
in the center and south of European Russia, which are the chief hemp-ex- 



302 CYGLOPJE I) IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


porting countries. The finer kinds are used for making cloth; the coarser, 
for sail-cloth and ropes. Hemp sown thin produces a coarser fibre than 
that which is sown thick. Something also depends upon the time of pulling, 
for the crop is pulled by hand. When a rather fine fibre is wanted, and the 
seed is not regarded, the whole crop is pulled at once, soon after flowering; 
otherwise, it is usual to pull the male plants as soon as they have shed their 
pollen, and to leave the female plants to ripen their seed, in which case tho 
fibre of the female plants is much coarser. The treatment of hemp, by ret¬ 
ting, etc., is similar to that of flax. 

Sugar.—This well-known article may be made from various products, 
but the ordinary sugar of commerce is that made from the juice of the sugar 
cane, a native of tropical and sub-tropical countries. It is usually propa¬ 
gated by cuttings. For this purpose the top joints are used. The cuttings 
are planted in rows three or four feet apart, and at intervals of about two 
feet in the rows. The largest varieties, in rich moist soils, attain a height of 
twenty feet; but in dry, poor soil, the height is sometimes scarcely more 
than six feet. The plant tillers like wheat, but not to the same degree. The 
cane ground is kept clean by hand-hoeing, or by the plough. Hand-hoeing 
Avas formerly universal in the West Indies, but the plough is now very gen¬ 
erally used where the nature of the ground permits. The best vaifieties are 
ready for cutting in about ten months from the time of planting, but other 
varieties require a longer period of growth, from twelve to tAventy months. 
When the canes are fully ripe, they are cut a little above the ground, and 
tied in bundles to be conveyed to the mill. Fresh canes, called rattoons , 
spring from the root, so that the plantation does not require to be reneAved 
for several years; but the canes of the first crop are the largest, and a grad¬ 
ual decrease of size takes place. The ordinary practice on sugar estates is 
to reneAV a part of the plantation every year. 

The extraction of juice from the sugar-cane is effected by simple pres¬ 
sure. The canes, freed from all loose leaves, are passed between the 
rollers of the machine, under great pressure. From one hundred pounds 
of cane sixty-five to seventy-five pounds of cane juice will be expressed. 
This juice, which has a sweetish taste and is of the color of dirty water, 
passes direct from the mill to a small reservoir, where it usually receives a 
small dose of quicklime, and without delay runs off to large iron or copper 
vessels, heated either by a fire underneath, or by steam-pipes in the liquid. 
As the temperature of the juice rises, a thick scum comes to the top, which 
is either removed by skimming, or the Avarm juice is drawn off from below 
the scum. The concentration of the juice is partly effected in a series of 
large open hemispherical iron pans about six to eight feet in diameter, of 
Avhich five or six are placed in a row, with a large fire under the one at the 
end. This one fire, which runs along under the whole row of pans, is found 
sufficient to make two or three of them nearest the fire boil violently, and in 
addition, it warms the juice in the pans farthest from the fire. As the juice 
first enters the pans farthest from the fire, it gets gradually heated, and the 
vegetable impurities rise in scum to the top, and are carefully removed. As 
the juice is ladled from one pan to the next, it boils with greater and greater 
vigor as it approaches nearer the fire, until in the pan immediately over the 
fire it seethes and foams with excessive -violence; and this seems* to be es¬ 
sential to the successful making of sugar. After the concentration has 
been carried to a given point, and all the scum has been got rid of, the ap- 
plicatiop of a high heat, Avhich would act with an increasingly destructive 


303 


TREES , PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 

effect as the condensation becomes greater, is suspended, and the liquor, 
now of the color of turbid port wine, and of the consistency of oil, is drawn 
into the vacuum-pan, where the concentration is completed at the lowest 
possible temperature, generally about 150° Fahrenheit. The vacuum-pan 



GATHERING SUGAR-CANE. 


is generally made of copper, of a spherical form, and from six to nine feet in 
diameter. The bottom is double, leaving a space of an inch or two for the 
admission of steam between the two bottoms, and there is generally a long 
coiled copper pipe of three or four inches diameter above the inner bottom, 
so as to still further increase the amount of heating surface. This ap¬ 
paratus is made perfectly air tight and steam tight. Leading from its upper 



























304 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


dome there is a large pipe communicating with a condenser, into which a 
rush of cold water is continually passing, so as to condense all the steam or 
vapor that arises from the liquid boiling in the vacuum-pan. The water 
which is constantly rushing into the condenser is as steadily withdrawn 
again by the pump. There is thus a constant vacuum in the pan, and, con¬ 
sequently the liquid in it will boil at a much lower temperature than it 
would in an open pan or boiler. 

As the concentration of the liquid in the vacuum pan proceeds, crystals of 
sugar begin to form, and the skill of the sugar boiler is shown by the uni¬ 
formity of the crystals he produces. The boiling is commenced by filling in 
only a third or fourth of the quantity the vacuum pan will hold, and grad¬ 
ually adding more liquid as the crystals increase in size. The sugar boiler 
is able to watch the changes going on in the vacuum-pan by means of small 
samples he withdraws from it by means of a suitable apparatus. The 
sugar-boiler holds those drops of thick fluid on his finger and thumb, be¬ 
tween his eye and a strong light, and is thus able to detect those minute 
changes in its condition which show that it is time to add an additional 
quantity. By the time the vacuum-pan is full, the contents have thickened, 
by the formation of crystals of sugar, into a mass ot the consistency of thick 
gruel; it is then allowed to descend into a vessel called the heater, where it 
is simply kept warm until it can be run out into the “ forms,” which, in the 
sugar-growing colonies, are generally conical earthen pots, holding from 
one to two cwts. of sugar. It is allowed to cool and complete its crystalliza¬ 
tion before the plugs, which close the bottom of the pots, are withdrawn. 
When this is done, from one-fourth to one-third of the contents of the form, 
which lias remained in a fluid state, runs off into gutters leading to large 
tanks, from which it is again pumped up into the vacuum-pan, and reboiled, 
yielding a second quality of sugar. This reboiling of the drainings is re¬ 
peated, with a continually decreasing result, both as to quantity and quality 
of the solid sugar obtained, and it is rarely carried beyond the fourth boil¬ 
ing. If the planter wishes to obtain Muscovada or unclayed sugar, the pro¬ 
cess is now complete, and the sugar is turned out of the forms, and packed 
for shipment. In some cases, the sugar is run direct from the vacuum pans 
into casks or hogshead, which replace the forms, holes being bored in the 
bottoms of the casks, to admit of the uncrystallized portion of the sugar 
draining out. 

If clayed sugar is to be made, the forms are allowed to stand for a few 
days until all the molasses has drained out; and a quantity of thin mud, 
about the consistency of good thick cream, is then poured over the sugar, to 
the depth of one or two inches. The water contained in this thin mud slowly 
steals down through the sugar, and mixing with the coatings of molasses 
still adhering to the outsides of the crystals of sugar, renders them less 
viscid, and facilitates their descent to the bottom of the form. The mud re- 
mams, at the end of a few days, in the form of a dry hard cake on the top of 
the sugar, and none mixes with the sugar. The process of claying sugar is 
simply washing off a coating of black and yellow molasses from a crystal of 
sugar, which is always white. This operation is possible without dissolving 
the crystal of sugar, simply because the molasses has a greater affinity for 
water than the crystallized sugar has. Into the various processes of sugar 
refining we have not space to enter. 

Tobacco.—Tobacco is a herbaceous plant, with large broad leaves, and 
everywhere covered with clammy hairs. It is a native of the warm parts of 


305 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , .ETC'. 

the United States and other tropical countries. It is cultivated on account 
of its narcotic property, which resides in all parts of the plant, though the 
leaves are almost exclusively used. The Virginian tobacco attains at ma¬ 
turity a height of five or six feet, has leaves from six to eighteen inches long, 
and rose-colored flowers. The cultivation of tobacco is not difficult, and, 
although a warm climate suits it best, it is successfully raised in compara¬ 
tively cold latitudes. The usual plan in the great tobacco producing coun¬ 
tries is to sow the seed in seed-beds of rich soil, and as the seed is extremely 
minute, it is first mixed largely with sand or wood ashes, to assist in 
spreading it thinly. In Virginia, which may be taken as one of the best 
tobacco-growing districts, this is usually done in the first week in January. 
After the seed-beds have been carefully prepared and sown, small branches 
of trees are laid over, to protect the seed when it germinates from the 
eftects of frost; but these are removed as soon as can be done with safety, 
and the plants then grow rapidly, and are ready 
for transplanting into the fields about the be¬ 
ginning of June. The land in the fields is very 
carefully prepared, and small hillocks are 
raised up in rows; each is about a foot in 
diameter, and flattened at the top. With the 
first appearance of rain, the plants are care¬ 
fully raised from the seed-beds, and carried, 
usually by children, who deposit one on each 
hillock, on which it is carefully planted by ex¬ 
perienced men, who follow after the children. 

Only wet weather will do for planting, so that 
this operation often lasts until tho end of 
July. When planted, the tobacco crop requires 
much careful attention to weeding, and a watch¬ 
ful eye to prevent the ravages of various insect 
enemies. Much of this latter work is done by 
flocks of turkeys, kept on purpose by the plant¬ 
ers. As soon as the plants begin to throw up 
the flower shoot, it is nipped off; otherwise it 
would weaken the leaves; but this process is 
neglected in some countries, especially in 
Turkey and Greece, where small leaves are 
preferred, and where, in some cases, as in the tobacco. 

celebrated Latakia tobacco, both leaves, buds, 

and flowers are used. The time generally chosen for cutting it is mid-day, 
or when the sun is powerful, and the morning and evening dews absent. 
The cutting is done by hand, and only such plants are chosen as are ready, 
which is known by a clammy exudation which forms over the leaf, often 
giving it a spotted appearance. If the plants are very large, the stalk is 
often split down, to facilitate the drying. They are then removed from the 
field to the tobacco house, around which are erected light scaffolds, to which 
the plants are suspended, generally by passing a thin stick through a split 
in the stalk of each, and so placing a number of plants on each stick, just 
near enough to prevent them touching each other. After some time hang¬ 
ing in the open air, the plants on the sticks are removed, and suspended in 
a similar way inside the curing house, until the drying is completed. The 
leaves are removed from the stalks, and all bad ones rejected. The chosen 
ones are tied up in bundles called hands; these are solidly packed in hogs- 



306 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

heads, and in this condition are transported to market. The consumption in 
nearly all parts of the world is very great. 

The India Rubber Tree_The India rubber tree is found in parts 

of Mexico, Central and South America, 
and in the East Indies, and is one of 
the noblest and most picturesque of all 
the trees of the forest. In Assam, be- 



THE INDIA RUBBER TREE. 


yond the Ganges, it is found in inex¬ 
haustible abundance. It is either- soli¬ 
tary, or in two or three fold groups; is 
large and umbrageous, and may be 
distinguished from other trees at a dis¬ 
tance of several miles by the striking 
beauty of its dense and lofty crown. 
The main trunk of one of the Assam 
trees measured seventy-four feet in 
circumference, and the area covered by 
its expanded branches had a circum¬ 
ference of six hundred and ten feet. 
The height of the central tree was one 
hundred feet. It has been estimated 
that there are over forty-three thou¬ 
sand such trees in one district within 
an area of thirty miles by eight. It 
grows on the slopes of the moftntains 
from the valleys up to an elevation of 
twenty-two thousand feet. The raw 
seeds are poisonous to man and quad¬ 
rupeds, but macaws eat them, and 
they arc used as bait for fish. Long 
boiling deprives them of their poison. 

A large proportion of the quantity 
of rubber or caoutchouc furnished to 
commerce comes from Brazil. The 
tree is tapped in the morning, and dur¬ 
ing the day a gill of fluid is received in 
a clay cup placed at each incision in 
the trunk. This when full is turned 
into a jar, and is ready at once to be 
poured over any pattern of clay, the 
form of which it takes as successive 
layers are thus applied. It comes from 
the tree purely colorless, like milk, but 
when dried by the sun it is white with¬ 
in and a yellowish-brown without. Its 
drying and hardening are hastened by 


exposure to the smoke and heat of a 
fire, and it thus acquires its ordinary 
black color. Complete drying by the 
sun requires several days’ exposure; during this time the substance is 
soft enough to receive impressions from a stick, and is thus ornamented 
with various designs. The natives collect it upon balls of clay in the forms 



307 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , .ETC. 

of bottles and Various fanciful figures, in which shape it is often exported. 
The clay mold over which the bottles are formed, being broken up, is ex¬ 
tracted through the open neck. Usually it has been brought to this country 
in flat cakes; but a method has been devised by which the liquid is shipped 
in air-tight vessels of tin or glass just as it comes from the tree. 

Gutta Percha—This substance, in many respects similar to caout¬ 
chouc, or India rubber, is the dried milky juice of a tree which is found in 
the peninsula of Malacca and the Malayan Archipelago. It is a very large 
tree, the trunk being sometimes three feet in diameter, although it is of little 
use as a timber tree, the wood being spongy. The leaves are alternate, on 
long stalks, somewhat leathery, 
green above and of a golden 
beneath. The flowers are in little 
tufts in the axils of the leaves, 
small, each on a distinct stalk. 

The present mode of obtaining the 
gutta percha is a most destructive 
one. The finest trees are selected 
and cut down, and the bark 
stripped off; between the wood 
and bark, a milky juice is found, 
which is scraped up into little 
troughs made of plantain leaves. 

This is the gutta percha, which, as 
it hardens, is kneaded into cakes, 
and exported. It has a very light 
reddish-brown, or almost a flesh 
color, is full of irregular pores 
elongated in the direction in which 
the mass has been kneaded. It 
has a cork-like appearance when 
cut, and a peculiar cheese-like 
odor. Before it can be used, it 
has to undergo some preparation. 

This consists in slicing the lumps 
into thin shavings, which are 
placed in a devilling or tearing ma¬ 
chine revolving in a trough of hot 
water. This reduces the shavings 
to exceedingly small pieces, which gutta percha. 

by the agitation of the tearing 

teeth are washed free from many impurities, especially fragments of 
the bark of the tree, which, if not separated, would interfere with the 
compactness of its texture, which is one of its most important qualities. 
The small fragments, when sufficiently cleansed, are kneaded into 
masses which are rolled several times between heated cylinders, which 
press out any air or water and render the mass uniform in texture. 
It is then rolled between heated steel rollers into sheets of various 
thickness for use, or is formed into rods, pipes for water, or speaking- 
tubes, and an endless number of other articles. Gutta percha differs very 
materially from caoutchouc or India rubber in being non-elastic, or elastic 
only in a very small degree, 






308 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The Cork Tree.— The cork tree is a species of oak which grows 
abundantly in Spain, Portugal, Italy and the northern part of Africa. It 
grows to a height of from twenty to forty feet, and has long evergreen 
leaves. The bark in treos or branches from three to five years old acquires 
a fungus appearance, new layers of cellular tissue being formed, and the 
outer parts cracking from distension, until they are finally thrown off in 
large flakes, when a new formation of the same kind takes place. Cork in¬ 
tended for the market is generally stripped off a year or two before it would 
naturally come away, and the process is repeated at intervals of six or eight 
years. The bark of young trees and branches is either useless or of very 
inferior quality; it is only after the third peeling that good cork is produced. 
The removal of the cork being not the removal of the whole bark, but only 
of external layers of spongy cellular tissue, all or greater part of which has 
ceased to have any true vitality, and has become an incumbrance to the 
tree, is so far from being injurious, that when done with proper care, it 
rather promotes the health of the tree, which continues to yield crops of 
cork for almost one hundred and fifty years. In stripping off the cork, 
longitudinal and transverse incisions are made to the proper depth, and 
each pieco is then cut away from the tree by a curved knife with two 
handles. The pieces are soaked in water, pressed flat, dried and super¬ 
ficially charred, to remove decayed parts and conceal blemishes, before 
they are packed in bales for the market. 

The Castor Oil Plant.— The castor oil plant belongs to an order 
whose affinities have not yet been accurately limited by botanists; but it is 
supposed to comprise at least one thousand five hundred species, dis¬ 
tributed in each quarter of the globe from the equator to latitudes as high 
as Great Britain; sometimes in the form of large trees, frequently of bushes, 
still more usually of diminutive weeds, and occasionally of deformed, leaf¬ 
less, succulent plants, resembling the cacti. The plant is highly valuable 
for the excellent medical virtues of the oil which it furnishes; its root is said 
to be diuretic. The positions of the flowers are shown in our illustration; 
but it is from the seed that the oil is extracted, three of which, of an oblong 
flattish form, are enclosed in each receptacle. The oil is prepared chiefly 
in the East Indies and in the West India Islands, the United States, and 
also in the south of Europe. In extracting the oil, the seeds are first 
bruised between heavy rollers, and then pressed in hempen bags under a 
hydraulic or screw press. The best variety of oil is thus obtained by press¬ 
ure in the cold, and is known as cold-drawn castor oil; but if the bruised 
and pressed seeds be afterwards steamed, or heated, and again pressed, a 
second quality of oil is obtained, which is apt to become partially solid or 
frozen in cold weather. In either case the crude oil is heated with water to 
212°, which coagulates, and separates the albumen and other impurities. 
Exposure to the sun’s light bleaches the oil, and this process is resorted to 
on the large scale. When pure and cold drawn, castor oil is of a light-yel¬ 
low color; but when of inferior quality, it has a greenish, and occasionally a 
brownish tinge. 

The Camphor Tree. —The Laurus camphora of China is an evergreen 
of the laurel family, having glossy leaves and bearing clusters of yellowish 
flowers, which are succeeded by bunches of fruit resembling black currants. 
This valuable tree, which often adorns the banks of the rivers, was in sev¬ 
eral places found by Lord Amherst’s embassy above fifty feet high, with its 


TREES, FLA NTS, FRUITS, ETC. 309 



THE CASTOR OIL PLANT. 

trunk twenty feet in circumference. The Chinese themselves affirm that it 
sometimes attains the height of more than three hundred feet, and a circum- 


















310 C ¥ CL 0 PJSD1A OF XTSFFVL KNOWLEDGE. 


ference greater than the extended arms of twenty men could embrace. 
Camphor is obtained from the branches by steeping them, while fresh cut, 
in water for two or three days, and then boiling them till the gum, in the 
form of a white jelly, adheres to a stick which is used in constantly stirring 
the branches. The fluid is then poured into a glazed vessel, where it con¬ 
cretes in a few hours. To purify it the Chinese take a quantity of finely- 
powdered earth, which they lay at the bottom of a copper basin; over this 
they place a layer of camphor, and then another layer of earth, and so on 
until the vessel is nearly filled, the last or topmost layer being of earth. 
They cover this last layer with leaves of a plant called poho, which seems to 
be a species of mentha (mint). They now invert a second basin over the 

first, and make it air-tight 
by lutifig. The whole is 
then submitted to the 
action of a regulated fire 
for a certain time, and 
then left to cool gradually. 
On separating the vessels 
the camphor is found to 
have sublimed, and to 
have adhered to the upper 
basin. Repetitions of the 
same process complete its 
refinement. Besides yield¬ 
ing this invaluable in¬ 
gredient, the camphor tree 
is one of the principal tim¬ 
ber trees of China, and is 
used not only in building 
but in most articles of 
furniture. The wood is 
dry and of a light color. 

In the Island of Suma¬ 
tra there is a variety of 
the camphor-tree which is - 
much larger than that of 
China, under the bark of 
which the gum is found 
in a concrete form, and 
from which it is brushed 
down carefully with long 
brooms. Another variety of the same tree yields its gum in the form of 
pith. In this case the gatherers first pierce the trees with an axe to dis¬ 
cover their worth, as no outward sign betrays whether the heart of the tree 
will be found to contain oil, a resinous pitch, or gum. After the axe has 
disclosed the white and shining substance for which they seek, the tree is 
cut down, divided into lengths of about three feet, and split open very care¬ 
fully, when the gum is taken out in solid rolls, often as large as a man’s 
arm, and all ready for market. One tree sometimes furnishes as much as 
eleven pounds of gum, of so fine a quality as to be valued by the Chinese at 
fifty times the price of that produced by their own trees. This superior 
quality, of which the Island of Sumatra yields only about three hundred 
pounds a year, is rarely, if ever, exported. 



THE CAMPHOR TREE. 






311 


TREES, PLANTS , FRUITS, ETO. 

Peppermint.—The mint family of plants, of which the most important 
species are peppermint, spearmint and penny-royal, all contain an aromatic 
essential oil, possessing medicinal qualities. The peppermint plant is widely 
distributed over the temperate parts of the world, is easily propagated and 
readily recognized by the peculiar pungency of its odor. Wayne County, 



PEPPERMINT. 


New York, produces about two-thirds of the peppermint crop of the United 
States. It is grown on black ash swamps, which have been under-drained 
thoroughly, from roots which are planted as hops are. When cut it is par¬ 
tially dried and taken to a still, where the oil is extracted. The oil sells 
from $2.50 to $5 per pound, and when it brings $3 the crop is a paying one. 



312 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

About seventy thousand pounds are used annually in producing medicines, 
manufacturing candies, and making cordials. 

Wine Growing 1 .—In Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and elsewhere the 
manufacture of wine from grapes is an important industry of the people. 
It is said that in the south of France, wine is drank almost as freely as 
water in other countries. The peasant women of these localities labor 
almost exclusively out of doors, and may be seen, not only engaged in gath¬ 
ering the grapes, but in carrying huge baskets of them to the wine-presses. 

Attar of Roses.—The rose gardens of Ghazepore are fields in which 
small rose-bushes are planted in rows. In the morning they are red with 



WINE GEOWING. 


blossoms, but these are all gathered before mid-day, and their leaves dis¬ 
tilled in clay stills, with twice their weight of water. The water which 
comes over is placed in open vessels, covered with a moist muslin cloth, to 
keep out dust and flies, and exposed all night to the cool air, or to artificial 
cold—as we set out milk to throw out its cream. In the morning, a thin 
film of oil has collected on the top, which is swept off with a feather, and 
carefully transferred to a small phial. This is repeated night after night, 
till nearly the whole of the oil is separated from the water. Twenty thou¬ 
sand roses are required to yield a rupee-weight of oil, which sells for $50. 
Pure attar of roses is, therefore, seldom to be met with. That which is sold 



















i vuees, ppakts, fhuits, etc. 313 

in the Indian bazars is adulterated with sandal-wood oil, or diluted with 
sweet salad oils. What we obtain in America is generally still more diluted, 
as the price we usually give for it sufficiently shows. 

Apricots.—The apricot is a species of the same genus as the plum, and 
is a native of Armenia, and of the countries eastward to China and Japan; 
a middle-sized tree of fifteen to twenty or even thirty feet high, with smooth, 
doubly-toothed leaves on long stalks, white flowers which appear before the 
leaves, and fruit resembling the peach, roundish, downy, yellow, and ruddy 
on the side next the sun, with yellow flesh. More than twenty kinds are 
distinguished, amongst which some excel very much in size, fine color, 
sweetness, and abundance of juice. The apricot is generally budded on 
plum or wild cherry stocks. The fruit keeps only for a very short time, and 
is either eaten fresh, or made into a preserve or jelly. Apricots split up, 
having the stone taken out, and dried, are brought from Italy as an article 
of commerce; in the south of France, also, they are an article of export in a 
preserved and candied state. Dried apricots from Bokhara, the kernels of 
which are perfectly sweet, are sold in the towns of Russia. 

Rice. -Rice is cultivated extensively in the Southern States of America, 
China, India, Japan, and elsewhere. The grains of this plant grow on 
separate pedicles, or little fruit-stalks, springing from the main stalk. The 
whole head forms what a botanist would call a spiked panicle; that is, 
something between a spike like wheat, and a panicle like oats. The grain 
is sown in rows, in the bottom of trenches. These ridges lie about seven¬ 
teen inches apart, from center to center. The rice is put in by the hand, 
and is never scattered, but cast so as to fall in a line. This is done about 
the 17th of March. By means of flood-gates, the water is then permitted to 
flow over the fields, and to remain on the ground fivo days, at the depth of 
several inches. The object of this drenching is to sprout the seeds, as it is 
technically called. The water is next drawn off, and the ground allowed to 
dry, until the rice is risen to what is termed four leaves high, or between 
three and four inches. This requires about a month. The fields are then 
again overflowed, and they remain submerged for upwards of a fortnight, 
to destroy the grass and weeds. These processes occupy till about the 17th 
of May, after which the ground is allowed to remain dry till the 15th of 
July, during which interval it is repeatedly hoed, to remove such weeds as 
have not been effectually drowned, and also to loosen the soil. The water 
is then, for the last time, introduced, in order that the rice may be brought 
to maturity; and it actually ripens while standing in the water. The har¬ 
vest commences about the end of August, and extends into October. After 
being cut the rice is bound up into bundles, and afterward threshed with 
a flail. The next process is to detach the outer husk, which clings to the 
grain with great pertinacity. This is done by passing the rice between a 
pair of millstones, removed to a considerable distance from each other. 
The inner pellicle, or film, which envelopes the grain, is removed by tritura¬ 
tion in mortars under pestles weighing from two hundred and fifty to three 
hundred pounds. The pestles consist of upright bars, shod with iron, 
which being raised up by the machinery to the height of several feet, are 
allowed to fall upon the rice, the particles of which are thus rubbed against 
one another until the film is removed. It is now thoroughly winnowed, 
and, being packed in casks holding about six hundred pounds each, is 
ready for market. 


314 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


The Tapioca Plant.— The tapioca plant is a native of Central and 
South America, and much cultivated there. It is now also largely grown in 
Western Africa, where it is called cassava. The plant grows in a bushy 
form, with stems usually from six to eight feet high. The roots are very 
large, from three to eight growing in a cluster, usually from a foot to tw® 
feet long. The starch in the roots is separated from the fibre, and from this 

starch the tapioca of com¬ 
merce is made by heating 
it on hot plates and stir¬ 
ring with an iron rod; the 
starch grains burst, and 
the whole forms into 
small, irregular masses, 
such as we find in the 
stores. 

Nutmegs.— The 

spice known in commerce 
under this name is the 
kernel of the seed of My- 
ristica fragrans , a dice- 
c i o u s evergreen tree 
about fifty or sixty feet 
high, found wild in the 
Banda Islands and the 
neighboring country ex¬ 
tending to New Guinea, 
but not to The Philip¬ 
pines. The leaves re¬ 
semble the laurel; the 
flowers are white, two or 
three on a peduncle. 
The nutmeg proceeds 
from a reddish knob in 
the center of the flower, 
yet not more than one- 
third ripen. The fruit is 
the size of an apricot, 
pear-shaped. When ripe 
4t opens and displays the 
nutmeg in a black and 
shining shell, inclosed in 
a network of scarlet mace. 
The shell is like that of 
a filbert; it is dried with care, and when the nutmeg shakes in it is broken, 
and the nutmeg soaked in sea-water and lime to preserve it from insects. 
The trees yield fruit in eight years after sowing the seed, reach their prime 
in twenty-five years and bear for sixty years or longer. The tree bears all 
the year round, but the chief harvest takes place in the later months of the 
year, and a smaller one in April, May, and June. 

Ginger.— This is the root, or rather the underground stem, of a plant 
which is a native of the East Indies; but is now grown in many other trop- 







315 


TPPPS, PLAftTS, PPVITS, PTC. 

ical countries. The stem grows two or three feet high, and is reed like; the 
flowers are borne on a separate stalk, of a dark purple color, and appear 
from between broad scales. Our supply comes from both the East and 



THE CLOVE TREE. 


West Indies; and is imported in the root, which differs much in appearance 
and quality. 

Cloves.— Cloves are the unopened flowers of a small evergreen tree that 
resembles in appearance the laurel or the bay. It is a native of the Molucca 
or Spice Islands, but has been carried to all the warmer parts of the world, 
and it is now cultivated in the tropical regions of America. The flowers are 
small in size, and grow in large numbers, in clusters, to the very end of the 
branches. The cloves we use are the flowers gathered before they are 




$16 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSEPtTL KNOWLEDGE. 



opened, and while they are still green. After being gathered they are 
smoked by a wood fire, and then dried in the sun. Each clove consists of 
two parts—of a round head, which is the four petals, or leaves, or flowers 
rolled up, inclosing a number of small stalks or filaments: the other part of 
the clove is terminated with four points, and is, in fact, the flower-cup of 
the unripe seed-vessel. All these parts may be distinctly seen if a few 
cloves are soaked for a short time in hot water, when the leaves of the flower 

soften, and readily 
unroll. Both the 
taste and the smell 
of cloves depend on 
the quantity of oil 
they contain. Some¬ 
times the oil is sepa¬ 
rated from the cloves 
before they are sold, 
and the odor and 
taste are, in conse¬ 
quence, much weak¬ 
ened. 

Cinnamon_ 

Cinnamon is the bark 
of a small tree, the 
Cinnamonum Zey- 
lanicum, which, as 
its name imports, is 
a native of Ceylon, 
and chiefly culti¬ 
vated there, though 
it is raised also in 
Java. The tree is 
very graceful; the 
leaves, which are red 
in spring, become 
thick, leathery, and 
glossy-green as the 
summer advances; 
they are netted with 
raised veins on the 
under side, and are 
cinnamon. placed opposite each 

other on the stem; 

the flowers are greenish-white, and grow in small, loose clusters at the ter¬ 
mination of the branches. The trees require a rich, light soil, and also 
shade; they are, therefore, planted in open glades of the forest, where a few 
large timber trees remain to shelter them; this greatly contributes to the 
beauty of the cinnamon harvest, when the natives assemble to strip the 
bark, their graceful figures and bright-colored clothing forming picturesque 
groups in the forest glades, and the whole air being loaded with the scent 
of the spice. Cinnamon peeling begins in May, at the end of the rains, and 
lasts till November. The peeling simply consists in slitting the bark and 
cutting it across, so as to turn it back; it is then soaked to remove the outer 



TREES, PLANTS , FRUITS, ETC. 


317 




rind, and rolled up into quills about three feet long, and it is then fit for 
exportation. Cinnamon contains volatile oil, tannin, a mucilage, vegeto-ani- 
mal coloring matter, an acid and a woody fibre. 

Allspice.— Pimento, or Jamaica pepper, 
otherwise called allspice, is a small berry, the 
fruit of a beautiful tree, about thirty feet high, 
with a straight trunk much branched above and 
covered with a very smooth, gray bark. Its 
dense and ever-verdant foliage gives it, at all 
times, a refreshing appearance. The leaves vary 
in shape and size, and are usually about four 
inches long, resembling those of the bay, and are 
of a dark, shining green. The tree exhales an 
aromatic fragrance, especially during the months 
of August and September, when the trees are in 
full bloom, the blossoms consisting of small, 
white flowers, which form a most delightful con¬ 
trast with the dark green leaves. The rich per¬ 
fume which is ex¬ 
haled and wafted 
by the gentlest 
breeze makes a 

plantation of the allspice. 

trees one of the 

most delightful spots imaginable. The ber¬ 
ries, as they reach us, are of different sizes, 
usually about as large as a small pea, of a 
brownish color, and when broken present 
two cells, each containing a black seed. 
They have a fragrant odor, thought to re¬ 
semble that of a mixture of cinnamon, cloves 
and nutmegs; hence the name allspice, by 
which they are best known in this country. 
Pimento is a native of the West Indies and 
South America, and is abundant in Jamaica, 
whence it received its name, Jamaica pepper. 
The berries are gathered after having at¬ 
tained their full size, but while yet green, 
and are carefully dried in the sun and put 
in bags and casks for exportation. 

Pepper. —Pepper is the fruit of a climb¬ 
ing or creeping plant called Piper nigrum, 
which has alternate leaves, jointed stems, 
and spikes of naked flowers; the berry is 
small, round, and fleshy. This plant grows 
abundantly in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and 
the Malay Peninsula. The pepper vines, as 
they are called, are trained to trees and 
shrubs, and are allowed to grow four years without gathering the crop; this 
takes place while the berries are still green, betore they are ripe, and they 
&re dried quickly on mats in the sun, which turns theca black, therefore it 


THE ALMOND. 



318 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOW LEDGE. 


is called black pepper; white pepper is produced by soaking the berries till 
the outer skin peels off readily. Long pepper is the fruit of the Piper lon- 
gum, also a native of the East Indies; in long pepper the spike and half-ripe 
berries are all dried together, which makes it resemble the catkins of the 
birch; the flavor is like that of black pepper. Cayenne pepper is the dried 
and ground fruit of the Capsicum , a genus of plants related to the woody 



THE COCOANUT TREE. 


nightshade; thene fruits are fleshy, and bright scarlet or orange, very pun¬ 
gent, and much used in flavoring, both in their unprepared state and ground. 

Almonds.— Almonds come from Spain and Italy, but they grow spon¬ 
taneously in many other warm countries. The almond-tree, Amygdalus 
communis , greatly resembles the peach in growth, leaves and blossoms; it 
flowers in the early spring, and produces fruit in August. The fruit is cov¬ 
ered with a tough skin, and is enclosed in a rough shell. There are two 
kinds of almonds, the sweet and the bitter, only differing from each other in 
the flavor of the nut, Yalentia almonds are sweet and large; Italian not 










319 


TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 

either so large or sweet. Jordan almonds come from Malaga; they are long, 
and not very pointed, and are the best kind imported; the bitter almonds 
come chiefly from Mogadore, on the northern coast of Africa. 

Cocoanuts. —Cocoanuts are the fruit of the Cocos nucifera, or cocoanut 
palm, a lofty and elegant palm-tree which grows abundantly in most trop¬ 
ical countries; it is from fifty to sixty feet in height, its simple column-like 
stem being crowned with a beautiful plume of feathery leaves from twelve 
to fourteen feet long. The nuts grow in several long clusters depending 
from the base of the leaves; they are about the size of a man’s head, the 



THE PINEAPPLE. 


thin outer rind covering a large mass of fibres, which are used in many 
countries for the making of mats, cordage, and coarse sail-cloth. Within 
this fibrous coating is the shell of the nut, whioh is oval and very hard, and 
often serves for a drinking cup. The kernel is firm, white, and pleasant; 
the interior hollow, and filled with sweet milky juice; when unripe, it is 
entirely filled with this juice. The cocoanut palm abounds in the East In¬ 
dies, throughout the tropical islands of the Pacific, and also in the West 
Indies and South America. On the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of In¬ 
dia immense groves may be seen. In Ceylon, which is peculiarly -well suited 
for their cultivation, it is estimated that twenty millions of these trees are 
growing. Here it stands at the head of all trees in its usefulness to man, 
every particle of stem, leaves and fruit being put to use, and the Cingalese 
Jove to repeat to strangers the hundred uses to which they apply it, The 


320 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


following are only a few of tlie countless uses of this invaluable tree: The 
leaves, for roofing, for mats, for baskets, torches or chules, fuel, brooms, 
fodder for cattle, manure. The stem of the leaf, for fences, for pingoes (or 
yokes) for carrying burdens on the shoulders, for fishing-rods, and innu¬ 
merable domestic utensils. The cabbage, or cluster of unexpanded leaves, 
for pickles and preserves. The sap, for toddy, for distilling arrack, and for 
making vinegar and sugar. The unformed nut, for medicine and sweet¬ 
meats. The young nut and its milk, for drinking for dessert; the green husk, 
for preserves. The nut, for eating, for curry, for milk, for cooking. The 
oil, for rheumatism, for anointing the hair, for soap, for candles, for light; 
and the poonak, or refuse of the nut, after expressing the oil, for cattle and 

poultry. The shell of the nut, for 
drinking-cups, charcoal, tooth- 
powder, spoons, medicine, hook¬ 
ahs, beads, bottles and knife- 
handles. The coir, or fibre which 
envelopes the shell within the 
outer husk, for mattresses, cush¬ 
ions, ropes, cables, cordage, can¬ 
vas, fishing-nets, fuel, brushes, 
oakum, and floor-mats. The 
trunk, for rafters, laths, railing, 
boats, troughs, furniture, fire¬ 
wood; and when very young, 
the first shoots, or cabbage, as a 
vegetable for the table. 

Pineapples.—The pineap¬ 
ple has a number of long, ser¬ 
rated, sharp-pointed, rigid 
leaves, springing from the root, 
in the midst of which a short 
flower-stem is thrown up, bear¬ 
ing a single spike of flowers, and 
therefore a single fruit. From 
the summit of the fruit springs 
a crown or tuft of small leaves, 
capable of becoming a new plant, 
and very generally used by gar¬ 
deners for planting. The pineapple is a native of tropical America; it is 
found wild in sandy maritime districts in the northeast of South America, 
but it has been very much changed by cultivation. It has also been gradu¬ 
ally diffused over tropical and subtropical countries, and not only as a culti¬ 
vated plant, for it is fully naturalized in many parts both of Asia and Afr ica. 
It delights in a moist climate. 

Bananas.—This much-prized tropical fruit comes chiefly from Central 
America and the West Indies. There are many varieties, some of which 
grow upon large trees, but the majority are of the dwarf species, which are 
propagated from cuttings and renewed every year. Nine months after a 
cutting has been planted a purple bud appears in the center of the unfold¬ 
ing leaves that shoot out from the head of the parent stem. The stem on 
which the bud appears grows rapidly above the main stalk. As the bud in- 



321 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , JE7C/. 

creases in weight the stem bends downward by a graceful curve, on the ex¬ 
tremity of which this bud continues to grow till, the purple blossoms falling 
off, little shoots appear as the embryo fruit. Each fruit has a yellow blos¬ 
som at its outward extremity. At the end of from three to four months the 
fruit has grown to maturity, and is picked long enough before it is “ dead 
ripe ” to preserve it in marketable condition. From the roots of tho parent 
stalk other shoots appear, which are trimmed out or left to grow, as the cul¬ 
tivator may deem best. A single stalk, therefore, bears only one bunch or 
crop as its life work. In regions where no frost ever reaches, bananas are 
found in all stages of growth, ripening their fruit every month and every day 
in the year. An estimate by Humboldt claims that forty-four thousand 
pounds of bananas can 
be produced on the 
soil that would be re¬ 
quired for one thou¬ 
sand pounds of pota¬ 
toes, and that the same 
area that would be re¬ 
quired to raise wheat 
enough for one man, 
would produce enough 
bananas to feed twenty- 
five men. 

Dates. —The date 
is the fruit of a tall and 
graceful palm, Phoenix 
dactylifei'a, which 
shoots up a single 
straight stem to the 
height of fifty or sixty 
feet, and then expands 
into a beautiful crown 
of leaves. It is abun¬ 
dant in Barbary, Ara¬ 
bia, Persia, and the ad¬ 
jacent countries, par¬ 
ticularly on the con¬ 
fines of the deserts and 
in the oases. The fruit 
somewhat resembles a 
plum, but is rather longer in proportion; it contains a long oblong kernel, 
grooved on one side. The pulp is soft, sweet, and slightly astringent; it is 
rich in sugar, gum, and other vegetable matter, affording the most whole¬ 
some nutriment. Dates form a staple article of food to the inhabitants ot 
many countries where they are grown. The fruit, when gathered quite 
ripe, is often pressed into large baskets, and thus forms a hard, solid cake, 
called “ adjoue,” which is afterward cut up and sold by the pound. Date- 
Stones are soaked in water and given to the cattle. 

Raisins. —A strip of land bordering on the Mediterranean, somewhat 
less than one hundi-ed miles in length, and in width not exceeding five o? 
six, is the raisin producing territory of Spain. Beyond these boundaries thr 



322 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


muscatel grape, from which the raisin is principally produced, may grow 
and thrive abundantly; but the fruit must go to the market or the wine¬ 
press. When the grape begins to ripen in August, the farmer carefully in¬ 
spects the fruit as it lays on the warm, dry soil, and one by one clips the 
clusters as they reach perfection. In almost all vineyards slants of masonry 
are prepared, looking like unglazed hot-beds, and covered with fine peb¬ 
bles, on which the fruit is exposed to dry. But the small proprietor pre¬ 
fers not to carry his grapes so far; it is better, he thinks, to deposit them 
nearer at hand, where there is less danger of bruising, and where the bees 
and wasps are less likely to find them. Day by day the cut bunches are ex¬ 
amined and turned, till they are sufficiently cured to be borne to the house, 
usually on the hill top, and there deposited in the empty wine-press till 
enough has been collected for the trimmers and packers to begin their work. 

At this stage great piles of rough dried 
raisins are brought forth from the wine¬ 
press and heaped upon boards. One 
by one the bunches are carefully in¬ 
spected, those of the first quality being 
trimmed of all irregularities and im¬ 
perfect berries, and deposited in piles 
by themselves. So, in turn, are treated 
those of the second quality, while the 
clippings and inferior fruit are received 
into baskets at the feet of the trimmers, 
and reserved for home consumption. A 
quantity of small wooden trays are now 
brought forward, just the size of a com¬ 
mon raisin box and about an inch deep. 
In these, papers are neatly laid, so as 
to lap over and cover the raisins evenly 
deposited in the trays, which are then 
subjected to a heavy pressure in a rude 
press. After pressing, the raisins are 
dropped into the boxes for market. 

Pig's.— The fig is a low, deciduous 
tree or shrub, with large deeply- 
lobed leaves, which are rough above 
and downy beneath. The branches are 
clothed with short hairs, and the bark is greenish. The fruit is produced 
singly in the axils of the leaves, is pear-shaped, and has a very short stalk; 
the color in some varieties is bluish-black; in others, red, purple, yellow, 
green, or white. The varieties in cultivation are numerous. In warm cli¬ 
mates, the fig yields two crops in the year—one from the older wood (mid¬ 
summer shoots of the preceding year); and a second from the young wood 
(spring shoots of the same year), but in colder regions the latter never 
comes to perfection. Fig-trees are propagated by seed, by suckers, etc.; 
very frequently by layers or by cuttings. They are successfully grown in 
warm climates in nearly all parts of the world. For exportation figs are 
dried either in the sun or in ovens built for the purpose. 

Prunes.— Prunes are made and not grown. Plums are grown, and 
some sorts of them, when treated in a certain way, become the prunes of 



THE FIG. 



TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 


323 



THE ORANGE. 


commerce. It is not every plum that can be dried into a prune, as many 
are inclined to think. Prunes are produced in the various countries of Con¬ 
tinental Europe, France, Spain, Germany, 
and Turkey taking the lead. The plums 
that are suited for prunes form a distinct 
group, the most noted variety being the St. 

Catherine. The plums that are to be made 
into prunes are left on the trees until they 
are fully ripe; in fact, until they drop of 
their own weight. To prevent injury by the 
fall the ground beneath the trees is either 
made soft by working it with the plow and 
harrow, or is covered with straw. The 
fallen fruit is picked up each day, or every 
alternate day, washed, if soiled, and then 
spread out separately on frames of wicker¬ 
work, where it is exposed to the rays of the 
sun. Later on in the drying, the plums 
are put in ovens similar to the baker’s oven, 
when they are subjected to a heat of about 
170 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of 
twenty-four hours the fruit is removed from 
the oven, and when cold is turned upon the 
trays. The oven is heated again, in the 
meantime, to about 220 degrees, and the 
fruit placed in again, when it remains another day. After another cooling 
and turning the oven is heated to 258 degrees and a third drying given, 
which usually completes the process. The drying is known to be properly 
done if there is a certain elasticity to prunes when pressed with the fingers. 

The object of all the different parts of the pro¬ 
cess of drying is to dry the fruit as far as pos¬ 
sible without breaking the skin, which, in the 
well-dried prune, should shine as if it had been 
given a coat of varnish. 

Oranges.— The orange-tree grows abun¬ 
dantly in almost all the warm soft climates of 
southern Europe, northern Africa, and many 
temperate parts of Asia and America. Those 
consumed in the Northern States are brought 
from the islands of the Atlantic and the South¬ 
ern States. St. Michael, one of the Azores, is 
famed for producing the most favored variety. 
The orange gardens are encompassed by high 
walls, not only to protect the trees from plun¬ 
derers, but from high winds, which often do 
serious damage. The orange trees are usually 
branched almost, if not quite, from the ground; 
their leaves are evergreen, and their flowers 
white and very elegant; they yield a delicious 
perfume. On many trees the flowers and ripe fruit hang together; and, 
when thus loaded—the fruit, some of light-green color, others of pale yellow, 
others of a deep orange, and all set off by the deep glossy-green foliage—th« 



THE LEMON. 



324 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 



trees are superb. The fruit is gathered iu December, or even earlier, a lit¬ 
tle while before it is ripe; and large baskets being filled by boys who take 
them from the gatherers, they are carried away at once to the packers, who 
most commonly sit ingroups on the grass; the oranges are poured out in a 
heap with as little concern as if they were coals; each orange is wrapped in 
a husk of Indian corn; these are prepared by children, who hand them to 
a man, who wraps up the orange and passes it to another, who places it in 
the chest; this is all done with amazing rapidity. The box is filled, thin 

boards are bent over it 
by a carpenter, and 
secured with willow 
bands, and then it is 


OLIVES. 

however, a variety called the sweet 
South of Europe, of which the juice ii 


ready to be carried to 
the port and shipped. 

Lemons. — Th e 

lemon is a tree which 
has by many botanists 
been regarded as a va¬ 
riety of the citron, and, 
like it, a native of the 
north of India. Its 
leaves are ovate or ob¬ 
long, usually serru¬ 
late, pale green, with 
winged stalk; the 
flowers are streaked 
and reddishon the out¬ 
side; the fruit is ob¬ 
long, wrinkled or fur¬ 
rowed, pale yellow, 
with generally concave 
oil-cysts in the rind. 
In the common variety, 
which is very exten¬ 
sively cultivated in 
many tropical and sub¬ 
tropical countries, the 
pulp of the fruit is very 
acid, abounding in cit¬ 
ric acid. There is, 
lemon occasionally cultivated in the 
sweet. 


The Olive Tree. —The olive tree, Olea Europa , grows abundantly m 
all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. It thrives upon the 
most rocky calcareous soils, seldom exceeds twenty feet in height, but is 
much branched and spreading; it lives to a great age, and increases very 
much in bulk, so that one tree may easily, at a little distance, be mistaken 
for a group. There is an olive tree at Pescio seven hundred years old, and 
twenty-five feet in circumference. The trees also grow abundantly in Judea, 
and there are some still standing in the garden of Gethsemane, which are 
so large and old that they are thought to have been in existence ever since 





325 


TUBES, PLANTS, ERVITS, ETC. 

the time of our Saviour. Josephus tells us that when Titus destroyed Jeru¬ 
salem, he cut down all the trees within one hundred fui-longs of the city; 
still it is very probable that these trees may have grown up from the roots 
of the old ones, because it is quite a characteristic of the olive-tree to shoot 
up again, however frequently it may be cut down. They are wild olives of 
extreme old age, and their stems quite rough and gnarled. The leaves of 
the tree are evergreen, stiffish and pointed; the flowers white, growing in 
clusters, succeeded by an oval drupe, or plum, which is violet-colored when 
ripe, bitter and nauseous. The preserved olives, common as a table luxury, 
are the unripe fruit pickled in a strong solution of salt. Salad oil is made 
from olives. The ripe fruit is gathered in November, and bruised in a mill, 
the stones of which are set so wide apart as not to bruise the nut or kernel; 
the pulp is then gently pressed in bags made of rushes; the first oil that 
flows is of the most value, a second quality is obtained by breaking the 
refuse, mixing it with warm water, and returning it to the press; and after 
this a third very inferior kind is obtained. 

Iiimes. —The little island of Montserrat, one of the most charming and 
salubrious of the British West Indian Colonies, with an area of but forty- 
seven square miles, or considerably less than that of London, contains the 
most extensive and best cultivated plantations of the lime-fruit tree in the 
world. The cultivation of the plant, which involves a large outlay of capi¬ 
tal, with no immediate return, was not at first attended with any commer¬ 
cial success, but the Montserrat Company now owns six hundred acres of 
land, bearing one hundred and twenty thousand trees, from which a crop is 
gathered nearly all the year round, the heaviest harvest extending for three 
months, from September to January. The appearance of the trees—with 
their dark-green leaves growing thick and bushy, and relieved at one and 
the same time by the bright fruit in different stages of ripeness, from green 
to a rich, ruddy yellow, and by the fragrant white flowers, resembling orange 
blossoms—is one of extreme beauty, and a lime-tree orchard is perhaps un¬ 
equaled by any other similar plantation. The very leaves of the tree emit a 
delicious perfume, and are largely used in the West Indies for the purpose 
of scenting water for toilet and other purposes. The trees do not bear fruit 
till they are seven years old, and during that period they require careful 
attention and pruning; they are otherwise easy of cultivation, flourishing 
best in light soils near the sea. The production of fruit is very large; and 
the process of extracting the juice is easy, the fruit being simply sliced and 
pressed, and the juice at once placed in casks ready for exportation. A sec¬ 
ondary product is citric acid, which is procured from the inferior fruit, and 
by a subsequent manipulation of the refuse from the first process of 
squeezing. 

The Jak Tree.— The bread-fruit tree, originally found in the south¬ 
eastern parts of Asia and the islands of the Pacific, though now introduced 
into the tropical parte of the western continent and the West Indies, is one 
of the most interesting as well as singular productions of the vegetable king¬ 
dom. There are two species of it—the bread-fruit, properly so called, with 
the leaves deeply gashed, or divided at the sides, which grows chiefly in the 
islands, and the jack-fruit, or jak tree, which grows chiefly in the main land 
of Asia 

The bread-fruit is a beautiful as well as a useful tree; the trunk rises to 
a height of about forty feet, and in a full-grown tree is from a foot to fifteen 


326 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



THE JAK TREE. 

inches in diameter; the bark is ash-colored, full of little chinks, and covered 
by small knobs; the inner bark is fibrous, and used in the manufacture of 













327 



TREES , PLANTS, FRUITS , ETC. 


a sort of cloth; and the wood is smooth, soft, and of a yellow color; the 
branches come out in a horizontal manner, the lowest ones about ten or 
twelve feet from the ground, and they become shorter and shorter as they 
are nearer the top. The leaves are divided into seven or nine lobes, about 
eighteen inches or two feet long, and are of a lurid green. The tree bears 
male and female flowers—the males among the upper leaves, and the 
females at the extremities of the twigs. When full-grown, the fruit is about 
nine inches 
long, heart- 
shaped, of a 
greenish color, 
and marked 
with hexagonal 
warts, formed 
into facets. The 
pulp is white, 
partly farina¬ 
ceous and part¬ 
ly fibrous; but 
whenquite ripe 
it becomes yel¬ 
low and juicy. 

The whole 
tree, when in a 
green state, 
abounds with a 
viscid, milky 
juice, of so 
tenacious a na¬ 
ture as to be 
drawn out in 
threads. 

The bread¬ 
fruit tree con¬ 
tinues produc¬ 
tive for about 
eight months in 
the year. Such 
is its abund¬ 
ance that two 
or three trees 
will suffice for 
a man’s yearly 
supply, a store 

being made in- twining hyacinth of California. 

to a sour paste 

called make in islands, which is eaten during the unproductive season. 
When the fruit is roasted until the outside is charred, the pulp has a con¬ 
sistency not unlike that of wheaten bread, and the taste is intermediate be¬ 
tween that of bread and roasted chestnuts. It is said to be very nourishing, 
and is prepared in various ways. The jak, or jack, grows to the same or 
even to a larger size than the bread-fruit of the Society Islands, but it is 
neither so palatable nor so nutritious. The fruit often weighs more than 




828 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 



thirty pounds, and contains two or three hundred seeds, each of them fotlr 
times as large as an almond. December is the time when the fruit ripens; 
it is then eaten, and the seeds or nuts also are eaten, after being roasted. 
There are many varieties of the jak tree, some of which can hardly be dis¬ 
tinguished from the seedling variety of the true bread-fruit. The fruit, and 
also the part of the tree in which it is produced, vary with the age. When 
the tree is young, the fruit grows from the twigs; in middle age it grows 
from the trunk, and when the tree gets old it grows from the roots. 


Twining 1 Hyacinth of California.— Our engraving represents a 
wonderfully singular and beautiful plant, which grows among the moun- 

tainsof California. 
It twines itself in¬ 
to and around 
every bush o r 
shrub within its 
reach, and does 
not stop climbing 
till its slender 
stem has reached 
the top of its sup¬ 
port, even if it 
should be ten feet 
high. When it has 
gained the top, it 
seems to rest for 
a while as if to 
look about it and 
feel sure o f its 
position, then lets 
go its hold upon 
the earth, and 
without any con¬ 
nection with the 
ground, or any 
sustenance from 
it, goes on bloom¬ 
ing and ripening 
its seed, month 
after month, no 
the big trees- of California. more affected ap¬ 

parently, by the 

scorching heat of the sun by day, nor the chill of the mountain air by night, 
than if it had an anchoring root like an oak tree. The leaves are long and 
narrow, resembling blades of grass; the flowers are a fine pink, or deep 
rose color, and as you may judge from the picture, very beautiful. This 
strange plant blooms constantly from May to September. 


The Big Trees of California.— The mammoth evergreen and red¬ 
wood trees of California have a world-wide notoriety. They are found in 
small groves in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at a height of four thousand 
five hundred feet above the sea level. In Calaveras County there is a grove 
of one hundred and three trees, each of which measures from seventy to 













TREES, PLANTS, ERTTITS, ETO. &9 

binety-three feet in circumference. The grove in Mariposa County contains 
one hundred and thirty-four trees of over fifteen feet in diameter, many of 
them being from twenty-five to thirty-five feet, and nearly three hundred 
smaller ones. The Tulare-Fresno forest, which is seventy miles long and 
about ten miles wide, consists mainly of these mammoth trees. On one 
occasion ten men on horseback attempted to form a circle around one of 
them. Each horse stood with his head close to the tail of the one before 
him, yet they reached but halfway round the tree. The height of the 
largest trees is from three hundred to four hundred feet, and some of those 
that have been felled indicate an age of from two thousand to three thou¬ 
sand years. 

Tlie Ivory Plant.— So different are the products of the animal from 
those of the vegetable kingdom, that even the most careless observer may 
be expected at once to distinguish them. Yet multitudes are in the daily 
use of ivory buttons, boxes and small ornaments, who never doubt that 
they are made from the tusks of the elephant, while they are really the pro¬ 
duct of a plant. The ivory plant is a native of the northern regions of South 
America, extending northward just across the Isthmus of Panama, large 
groves of it having been recently discovered in the province of that name. 
It is found in extensive groves—in which it banishes all other vegetation 
from the soil it has taken possession of—or scattered among the large trees of 
the virgin forests. It has the appearance of a stemless palm, and consists of 
a graceful crown of leaves, twenty feet long, of a delicate pale green color, 
and divided like the plume of a feather into from thirty to fifty pairs of long 
narrow leaflets. It is not, however, really stemless, but the weight of the 
foliage and the fruit is too much for the comparatively slender trunk, and 
consequently pulls it down to the ground, where it is seen like a large ex¬ 
posed root, stretching for a length of* nearly twenty feet in the old plants. 
The long leaves are employed by the Indians to cover the roofs of their 
cottages. 

Each flower of the ivory plant does not contain stamens and pistils, as in 
most of the British plants, but like our willows, one tree produces only 
staminal flowers, while another has only pistillate ones. Such plants are 
said by botanists to be dicecious. Both kinds of the plants of the vegetable 
ivory have the same general appearance, and differ only in the form and ar¬ 
rangement of the flowers. In the one kind an innumerable quantity of 
staminal flowers is born on a cylindrical fleshy axis, four feet long, while 
in the other a few pistillate flowers spring from the end of the flower-stalk. 
Each plant bears several heads of flowers. Purdie, who visited the plants 
in their native locality in 1846, says: “The fragrance of the flowers is most 
powerful, and delicious beyond that of any other plant, and so diffuse, that 
the air for many yards around was alive with myriads of annoying insects, 
which first attracted my notice. I had afterwards to carry the flowers in my 
hands for twelve miles, and though I killed a number of insects that fol¬ 
lowed me, the next day a great many still hovered about them, which had 
come along with us from the wood where the plant grew. The group of 
pistillate flowers produce a large roundish fruit, from eight to twelve inches 
in diameter, and weighing when ripe about twenty-five pounds. It is 
covered by a hard woody coat, everywhere embossed with conical angular 
tubercles, and is composed of six or seven portions, each containing from six 
to nine seeds. These seeds, when ripe, are pure white, free from veins, dots, 
or vessels of any kind, presenting a perfect uniformity of texture surpassing 


330 CYCLOPEDIA OP USDFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the finest animal ivory; and its substance is throughout so hard that the 
slightest streaks from the turning-lathe are observable. Indeed, it looks 
much more like an animal than a vegetable product; but a close comparison 
will enable one to distinguish it from the ivory of the elephant by its bright¬ 
ness and its fatty appearance, but chiefly by its minute cellular structure. 
This curious hard material is the store of food laid up by the plant for the 
nourishment of the embryo, or young plant contained in the seed. It cor¬ 
responds to the white of an egg of the hen, and has been consequently called 
the albumen of the seed. In its early condition this ivory exists as a clear 



THE IVORY PLANT. 

insipid fluid, with which travelers allay their thirst; afterwards the liquor be¬ 
comes sweet and milky, and in this state it is greedily devoured by bears, 
hogs and turkeys; it then gradually becomes hard. It is very curious that 
this hard mass again returns to its former soft state in the process of germi¬ 
nation. The young plant for some time is dependent upon it for its food, 
and if the seed be taken out of the ground after the plant has appeared, it 
will be found to be filled with a substance half pulp and half milk, on which 
the plant lives until it is old enough to obtain its food on its own account. 

From the small size of the seed, the largest not being more than two 






































331 


TUBES, PLANTS, Bit PITS, ETC. 

inches across its greatest diameter, the vegetable ivory can be employed in 
the manufacture of only small articles, such as beads, buttons, toys, etc. 
What is wanting in size is, however, olten made up by the skill and in¬ 
genuity of the workmen, who join together several pieces so as to make a 



THE BETEL NUT TREE. 


long object, when it is easy to hide the joints from view, or make a lid from 
one seed, and the box from another. 

The Betel-Nut Tree.— The betel-nut tree is one of the most graceful 
of the palm tribe. It is a native of all the countries of Asia within the 















m CtcLoPAZLlA OP USEFUL Rtf OWL EL UE. 

tropics, and is cultivated all over India for the sake ot the nut, which is iu 
high esteem. It grows to a height of forty or fifty feet, begins to bear fruit 
at five years, and continues in bearing for sixty or seventy years; but when 
it has been twenty-five or thirty years in perfection it begins to decay. The 
tree is in flower most of the year. The nut is about the size of a hen’s egg, 
enclosed in a membraneous covering, and of a reddish yellow when ripe. 
There are two crops in the year. The quantity of nuts yielded by a single 
tree varies considerably in different places; on the Coromandel coast the 
average number of nuts obtained from a single tree is usually about three 
hundred. The betel-nut is dried, cut into slices, usually four; these slices 
are wrapped up in the leaf of the black pepper vine and sprinkled with 
quicklime. Thus prepared, it is chewed, and is enjoyed by the people as a 
universal luxury. 

The Cow Tree. —Alexander Humboldt remarks that among the many 
very wonderful natural phenomena which he had during his extensive 
travels witnessed, none impressed him in a more remarkable degree than 
the sight of a tree yielding an abundant supply of milk, the properties of 
which seemed to be the same as the milk of a cow. The adult Indians 
would go each morning with their slaves from the village or station on the 
slope of the mountain chain bordering on Yenezuela, where Humboldt was 
stopping, to a forest where they grew, and making some deep incisions into 
the trees, in less than two hours their vessels, placed under these incisions, 
would be full. All present would then partake of the milk, on which the 
slaves grew fat, and a quantity would be carried home to be given to the 
children and to be mixed with cassava and maize. The tree itself attains a 
height of from forty-five to sixty feet, has long alternate leaves, and was 
described by Linden as Brosimum galactodendron. The milk which flows 
from any wound mado in the trunk is white and somewhat viscid; the flavor 
is very agreeable. An analysis of the substance made several years ago 
by M. Boussingault, a French chemist, shows that this vegetable milk 
most certainly approaches in its composition to the milk of the cow; it con¬ 
tains not only fatty matter, but also sugar, caseine and phosphates. But 
the relative proportion of these substances is greatly in [favor of the vege¬ 
table milk, and brings it up to the richness of cream, the amount of butter 
in cream being about the same proportion as the peculiar waxy material 
found in the vegetable milk, a fact that will readily account for its great 
nutritive powers. 

The Soap Plant. —A species of cacti called Amole is found in various 
parts of the American continent from Mount Shasta on the north to a simi¬ 
lar latitude in South America, and from the Pacific Coast to east of the Bio 
Grande, through New Mexico and Western Texas. The flower stalks are 
destitute of leaves, but are plentifully supplied with branches about eighteen 
inches long, from which flowers of white and yellow color are suspended in 
the flowering season. The bulbous root is from one to six inches in diame¬ 
ter and from six to eighteen inches long. A saponaceous juice is pressed 
from the root, and the fibre of the leaves is heckled for the manufacture of 
mattresses, cushions, and chair seats. The vegetable soap extracted from 
the root has been used by the Indians, Mexicans, and others for many years 1 
as a hair wash, and exceeds in purity our manufacture from animal sub¬ 
stances. The preservative qualities of the soap are well known, and its use 
gives the hair a fine natural glow, and prevents decay. 


333 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , ^!FC. 

The Talipat Palm Tree. —The Talipat or Great Fan Palm is the 
noblest palm of the East Indies, a native of Ceylon, Malabar, etc. It grows 



THE TALIPAT PALM TREE. 


to the height of sixty, seventy, or even one hundred feet, and has a straight 
cylindrical trunk, crowned with a tuft of enormous palmate plaited leaves, 
which are divided near the outer margin into numerous segments, and are 



334 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


united to the trunk by spiny leaf-stalks. The leaves are usually about 
eighteen feet long, exclusive of the leaf-stalk, and fourteen feet broad; a 
single one being sufficient to protect fifteen to twenty men from rain. At 
the age of thirty or forty years, the tree flowers, and after ripening fruit, 
generally dies. It produces a long conical erect spadix, rising to the height 
of thirty feet from the midst of its crown of leaves, and dividing into simple 
alternate branches, the lower of which sometimes extend laterally twenty 
feet, the whole covered with whitish flowers, and forming a very beautiful 
and magnificent object. The fruit is very abundant, globose, and about an 
inch and a half in diameter. The leaves are used for covering houses, for 
making tents, and for many other purposes. On occasions of ceremony, 
every Cingalese noble is followed by an attendant, who carries above his 
head a richly ornamented palm leaf, which is capable of being folded up 
like a fan, and is then not thicker than a man’s arm, and wonderfully light. 
The leaves of this palm are used in Malabar for writing upon, characters 
being traced upon them with an iron style. They are prepared for this pur¬ 
pose by boiling, drying, damping, rubbing, and pressing. The soft central 
part of the stem, pounded and made into bread, has often been of great use 
in times of scarcity. 

The Bamboo.— This is a genus of grasses, of which most of the species 
attain a great size, many of them twenty or thirty feet, some seventy or one 
hundred feet in height. The species are numerous, and are found in tropi¬ 
cal and subtropical regions, both of the eastern and western hemispheres. 
They are of great importance to the inhabitants of the countries in which 
they grow. All of them have a jointed subterranean root-stock which 
throws up stems from ten to one hundred feet high. These are generally 
straight and erect; although one large species ( B . aarestis), common in dry 
mountainous situations in the south-east of Asia, has crooked, and some¬ 
times creeping stems. The stems grow to their full height unbranched, but 
afterwards throw out straight horizontal branches, especially in their upper 
parts, forming a dense thicket. Some of the smaller kinds are often planted 
as hedges. The stems are jointed like those of other grasses, very hard, but 
light and elastic, hollow, containing only a light spongy pith, except at the 
joints or nodes, where they are divided by strong partitions. They are, 
therefore, readily converted into water-vessels of various sorts; and when 
the partitions are removed, they are used as pipes for conveying water. 
They are also much employed for house-building, for bridges, etc. The 
smaller stems are converted into walking-sticks, and are exported under 
the name of bamboo cane. In China, the interior portions of the stem are 
used for making paper. The stems of different species vary very much in 
the thickness of the woody part, and so in their adaptation to different pur¬ 
poses. The external covering of the stem is, in all the species, remark¬ 
ably silicious; the stem of B. iabacaria is so hard that it strikes fire when 
the hatchet is applied. This species is a native of Amboyna and Java; its 
slender stems are polished, and used for the stalks of tobacco-pipes. The 
leaves of some kinds are used for thatch, and the Chinese plait hats of them; 
of the external membrane of the stems of some, they make paper. From 
the knots of the bamboo there exudes a saccharine juice, which dries 
upon exposure to the atmosphere, and which the Greeks call Indian 
Honey. The young shoots of some kinds of bamboo are eaten like as¬ 
paragus, or are pickled in vinegar. Those of B. Tvlda , a common Ben¬ 
galese species, are used for these purposes when about two feet 


335 


TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, ETC. 

long. The seeds of some species are used as rice, and for making a kind 
of beer. Bamboos are generally of very rapid growth, and they are often 
found in arid situations, which would otherwise be destitute of vege¬ 
tation. 

The Star Fish Cactus. —All plants of the cactus kind are so wonder- 



THE BAMBOO. 


fully made that they are able to bear the heat and dryness of very hot cli¬ 
mates without showing any evil effects. They draw in the heavy dews that 
fall at night, literally drink them in, and then, when the heat of the day 
comes on. this moisture supports the plant, and gives it health and strength. 


336 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 



curious forms. We give an illustration of a variety, whose flower very 
much resembles a starfish. 









337 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , J£T(7. 

A Peruvian Forest.— Peru is exceedingly rich in vegetable produc¬ 
tion, and each of its natural regions has its own flora. The coast district 
has not many plants, but east of the Andes the species are exceedingly 
numerous. Many species of medicinal herbs, and a great variety of aro¬ 
matic balsams, oils, and gums are produced. Trees and shrubs which 
yield seven different kinds of wax are known, and, according to Peruvian 
writers, this territory is a new world in itself. Almonds, ginger, the balsam 
of copaiba, gum copal, etc., are all said to abound. On the coasts, and the 
west slopes of the Andes, are produced the cabbage-palm, the cocoanut, the 
chocolate-nut, the cotton shrub, the pineapple, tumeric, plaintain, and 



A PERUVIAN FOREST. 


sugar-cane, besides some trees that have only Peruvian appellations. The 
coffea racemosis is found in the interior, and the berries are used in the 
same way as those of the cultivated species. The large flowered jasmine, 
and the datura arbot'ea are very abundant in the vicinity of Lima, and are 
much used by the women for wreaths, and for braiding in their hair. No 
fewer than twenty-four species of pepper, and five or six of capsium are 
reckoned natives; there are several species of solatium , or plants of the 
potato genus, and the potato commonly called the Irish was originally 
brought from Peru. Tobacco and jalap are abundant in the groves at the 
foot of the mountain; and many of the varieties cultivated in the green¬ 
houses and gardens in other countries grow' wild in the forests. Cotton la 




338 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

found in great abundance in a wild state on the banks of the Amazon and its 
tributaries. Among the numerous shrubs which clothe the highlands, the 
different species of cinchona or Peruvian bark are the most valuable. It is 
scattered along the skirts of the Andes over an extent of 2,000 miles, at an 
elevation of from 2,800 to 9,500 feet, and therefore thrives in a great variety 
of climates. On the east declivity of the Andes it forms a continued forest 
for many miles. Caoutchouc is procured from the inspissated juices of a 
variety of different plants. The tree-ferns range between one thousand five 
hundred and five thousand feet above the sea; beyond the height of ten 
thousand five hundred feet arborescent vegetables disappear; between six 
thousand five hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred feet the Alpine 
plants are found; species of the Winlera and Escallonia occur between nine 
thousand two hundred and ten thousand eight hundred feet, and form 
scrubby bushes in the cold and moist climate. 

The Laughing* Plant —In Palgrave’s “Central and Eastern Ara¬ 
bia ” we are told some interesting facts concerning this singular plant. Tbe 
active principle appears to reside principally in the seeds. These seeds, 
when powdered and administered in full judicious quantities, produce 
effects similar to those produced by laughing gas. The person to whom the 
drug is administered laughs, sings, dances, and conducts himself in the 
most extravagant and ludicrous style. After an hour of this intense excite¬ 
ment he falls asleep; and upon awaking, he is totally unconscious of any¬ 
thing that he said or did while under the influence of the drug. It is a com¬ 
mon joke to put a small quantity into the coflee of some unsuspecting in¬ 
dividual, in order to enjoy a laugh at his antics; and it is said that, when 
judiciously given, it has never produced any evil consequences. An over¬ 
dose would be dangerous. The plant which bears these berries grows only 
in Arabia. In Kascem it hardly attains the height of six inches above the 
ground, while in Oman it has reached the height of three or four feet, with 
wide-spreading limbs. The stems are woody, and when stripped of the 
bark have a yellowish tinge; the leaf is of a dark-green color, and pinnated 
with about twenty leaflets on either side; the stalks are smooth and shining; 
the flowers are yellow, and grow in tufts, and the anthers numerous. The 
fruit is a capsule, stuffed with a greenish padding, in which lie embedded 
two or three black seeds, in size and shape much like French beans. Their 
taste is sweetish, but with a peculiar opiate flavor. The smell is overpower¬ 
ing and almost sickly. 

The Fountain Tree —These are very extraordinary vegetables, grow¬ 
ing in one of the Canary Islands, and likewise said to exist in some other 
places, which distill water from their leaves in such plenty as to answer all 
the purposes of the inhabitants who live near them. Of these trees we have 
the following account, in Glasse’s “ History of the Canary Islands “ There 
are three fountains of water in the whole island of Hiero, wherein the foun¬ 
tain tree grows. The larger cattle are watered at those fountains, and at a 
place where water distills from the leaves of a tree. Many writers have made 
mention of this famous tree, some in such a manner as to make it appear 
miraculous; others again deny the existence of any such tree, among whom 
is Father Feyjoo, a modern Spanish author. But he, aud those who agree 
with him in this matter, are as much mistaken as those who would make it 
appear to be miraculous. The author of the « History of the Discovery and 
Conquest ’ has given us a particular account of it, as follows; 


339 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , ETC. 

“ ‘ The district in which this tree stands is called Tigulabe; near to which, 
and in the cliff or steep rocky ascent that surrounds the whole island, is a 
gutter or gully, which commences at the sea, and continues to the summit 
of the cliff, where it joins or coincides with a valley, which is terminated by 
the steep front of a rock. On the top of this rock grows a tree, called, in the 
language of the ancient inhabitants, garse , sacred or holy tree, which for 
many years has been preserved sound, entire, and fresh. Its leaves con¬ 
stantly distill such a quantity of water as is sufficient to furnish drink to 
every living creature in Hiero, nature having provided this remedy for the 
drought of the island. It is situated about a league and a half from the sea. 
Nobody knows of what species it is, only that it is called til. It is distinct 
from other trees, and stands by itself. Its fruit resembles the acorn, and 
tastes something like the kernel of a pineapple, but is softer and more aro¬ 
matic. The leaves of this tree resemble those of the laurel, but are larger, 
wider, and more curved; they come forth in a perpetual succession, so that 
the tree always remains green. Near to it grows a thorn, which fastens on 
many of its branches, and interweaves with them; and at a small distance 
from the garse are some beech-trees, bresoes, and thorns. On the north 
side of the trunk are two large tanks or cisterns, of rough stone, or rather 
one cistern divided, each half being twenty feet square, and sixteen spans 
in depth. One of these contains water for the drinking of the inhabitants; 
and the other, that which they use for their cattle, washing, and such like 
purposes. 

“ * Every morning, near this part of the island, a cloud or mist arises 
from the sea, which the south or easterly winds force against the foremen- 
tioned steep cliff; so that the cloud, having no vent but by the gutter, grad¬ 
ually ascends it, and from thence advances slowly to the extremity of the 
valley, where it is stopped and checked by the front of the rock which ter¬ 
minates the valley, and then rests upon the thick leaves and wide spreading 
branches of the tree, from whence it distills in drops during the remainder of 
the day, until it is at length exhausted, in the same manner that we see water 
drip from the leaves of trees after a heavy shower of rain. 

“ ‘ This distillation is not peculiar to the garse or til, for the bresoes, 
which grow near it, likewise drop water; but their leaves being but few and 
narrow, the quantity is so trifling, that, though the natives save some of it, 
yet they make little or no account of any but what distills from the til, which, 
together with the water of some fountains, and what is saved in the winter 
season, is sufficient to serve them and their flocks. A person lives on the 
spot near which this tree grows, to take care of it and its waters, and is al¬ 
lowed a house to live in, with a certain salary. He every day distributes to 
each family of the district seven pots or vessels full of water, besides what 
he gives to the principal people of the island.’ ” 

The Groaning Tree. —The history of the "groaning tree is this: About 
forty years ago a cottager who lived near the center of the village of Bades- 
ley, near Lymington, England, heard frequently a strange noise behind his 
house, like that of a person in extreme agony. Soon after it caught the at¬ 
tention of his wife, who was then confined to her bed. She was a timorous 
woman, and, being greatly alarmed, her husband endeavored to persuade 
her that the noise she heard was only the bellowing of the stags in the forest. 
By degrees, however, the neighbors on all sides heard it, and the thing be¬ 
gan to be much talked of. It was by this time plainly discovered that the 
groaning noise proceeded from an elm which grew at the end of the garden. 


340 CYCLOPJSDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE , 


It was a young, vigorous tree, and to all appearance perfectly sound. In 
a few weeks the fame of the groaning tree was spread far and wide, and peo¬ 
ple from all parts flocked to hear it. Among others it attracted the atten¬ 
tion of the then Prince and Princess of Wales, who resided at that time, for 
the advantages of a sea-bath, at Pile well, the seat of Sir James Worsley, 
which stood within a quarter of a mile of the groaning tree. Though the 
country people assigned many superstitious causes for this strange phenom¬ 
enon, the naturalists could assign no physical one that was in any degree 
satisfactory. Some thought it was owing to the twisting and friction of the 
roots. Others thought it proceeded from water which had collected in the 
body of the tree, or perhaps from pent air. But no cause that was alleged 
appeared equal to the effect. In the meantime the tree did not always 
groan, sometimes disappointing its visitants; yet no cause could be assigned 
for its temporary cessations, either from seasons or weather. If any differ¬ 
ence was observed, it was thought to groan least when the weather was wet, 
and most when it was clear and frosty; but the sound at all times seemed 
to arise from the root. Thus the groaning tree continued an object of as¬ 
tonishment, during the space of eighteen or twenty months, to all the country 
around; and, for the information of distant parts, a pamphlet was drawn up 
containing a particular account of all the circumstances relating to it. At 
length the owner of it, a gentleman by the name of Forbes, making too rash 
an experiment to discover the cause, bored a hole in its trunk. After this 
it never groaned. It was then rooted up, with a further view to make a 
discovery; but still nothing appeared which led to any explanation of the 
cause. It was universally believed, however, that there was no trick in the 
affair, but that some natural cause really existed, though never understood. 

The Whistling 1 Tree._In Nubia and the Soudan groves a species of 
acacia is described as existing, whose scientific appellation, as well as its 
popular name, is derived from a peculiar sound emitted by the branches 
when swayed by the wind. The Arabic name is the “ sofifa,” or pipe, and 
the specific name of fistula , also meaning a pipe, has been given to it for the 
same reason which prompted the natives to give it its local designation. 
The tree is infected with insects, whose eggs are deposited in the young 
shoots and extremities of the branches. A sort of gall-like excrescence about 
an inch in diameter is produced at the base of these shoots, and when the 
larva has emerged from this nidus, it leaves a small circular hole, the action 
of the wind in which causes it to produce a whistling sound like that pro¬ 
duced by a flute or by blowing into any hollow pipe. When the wind is vio¬ 
lent, the noise caused by thousands of these natural flutes in a grove of 
acacias is most remarkable. The description given by Dr. Schweinfurth of 
these bladder-like galls leaves it uncertain whether they are true gall-nuts 
or whether they are the secretion of a species of lac insects. The valuable 
Indian lac insect thrives on two or three species of acacia, while one variety 
(the A. Arabica) also produces a pod or gall-nut, which is useful for tanning. 
In either case, these natural “whistles” of the whistling tree would form a 
valuable article of commerce if they could be easily and regularly collected 
and exported. 

The Banyan Tree.— This tree, a native of India, is remarkable for 
its vast rooting branches. It is a, species of fig; has ovate, heart-shaped, 
entire leaves, about five or six inches long, and produces a fruit of a rich 
scarlet color, not larger than a cherry, growing in pairs from the axils of the 


341 


TUFFS, PLANTS, FPVITS, FTC. 



leaves. The branches send shoots downwards, which, when they have 
rooted, become stems, the tree in this manner spreading over a great sur¬ 
face, and endur¬ 
ing for many 
ages. One has 
been described 
as having no 
fewer than three 
hundred andfifty 
stems, equal to 
large oaks, and 
more than three 
thousand small¬ 
er ones, covering 
a space sufficient 
to contain seven 
thousand people. 

The branches are 
usually covered 
with monkeys, 
birds, and enor¬ 
mous bats. The 
monkeys eatboth 
the fruit and 
leaves. The veg¬ 
etation of the 
banyan seldom 
begins on the 
ground. The 
seeds are depos¬ 
ited by birds in 
the crowns of 
palms, and send 
down roots 
which embrace 
and eventually 
kill the palm. As 
the banyan gets 
old, it breaks up 
into separate 
masses, the orig¬ 
inal trunk de¬ 
caying, and the 
props becoming 
separate trunks 
of the different 
portions. The 
wood of the ban¬ 
yan is light, po*- THE BANYAN TREE, 

ous, and of no 

value. The bark is regarded by the Hindoo physicians as a powerful tonic, 
and is administered in diabetes. The white, glutinous juice is used to re¬ 
lieve toothache, and also as an application to the soles of the feet when i»- 






























342 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KKO WLFD OF. 

flamed. Bird lime is also made from it. The banyan tree is beautifully 
described by Southey in his poem, “ The Curse of Kehama.” 

The Tallow Tree.— This is a remarkable tree, growing in great 
plenty in China, so called from its producing a substance like tallow, and 
which serves for the same purpose; it is about the height of a cherry tree, 
its leaves in form of a heart, of a deep shining red color, and its bark very 
smooth. Its fruit is inclosed in a kind of pod, or cover, like a chestnut, and 
consists of three round white grains, of the size and form of a small nut, 
each having its peculiar capsule, and a little stone within. This stone is en¬ 
compassed with a white pulp, which has all the properties of true tallow, 
both as to consistence, color, and even smell, and accordingly the Chinese 
make their candles of it. All the preparation they give it is to melt it down, 
and mix a little oil with it, to make it softer and more pliant. The candles 
made of it yield a thicker smoke and a dimmer light than do those made 
from animal tallow; but those defects are owing in a great measure to the 
wicks, which are not of cotton, but only a little rod of dry light wood, 
covered with the pith of a rush wound round it, which, being very porous, 
serves to filtrate the minute part* of the tallow, attracted by the burning 
stick, and by this means is kept alive. 

The Paper Tree. —The name of this tree is Aouta. It is a mulberry- 
tree, found at Otaheite, in the South Sea, from which a cloth is manufac¬ 
tured that is worn by the principal inhabitants. The bark of the tree is 
stripped off, and deposited to soak in running water; when it is sufficiently 
softened, the fibres of the inner coat are carefully separated from the rest 
of the bark; they are then placed in lengths of about eleven or twelve yards, 
one by the side of another, till they are about a foot broad; and two or three 
layers are put one upon another. This is done in the evening; and next 
morning the water is drained off’, and the several fibres adhere together in 
one piece. It is afterwards beaten on a smooth piece of wood with instru¬ 
ments marked lengthways, with small grooves of different degrees of fine¬ 
ness; and by means of this it becomes as thin as muslin. After bleaching 
it in the air, to whiten it, it is fit for use. 

The Stinging 1 Tree.— The “ stinging tree ” of Queensland is a luxu¬ 
rious shrub, pleasing to the eye but dangerous to the touch. It grows from 
two or three inches to ten or fifteen feet in height, and emits a disagreeable 
odor. Says a traveler: Sometimes while shooting turkeys in the scrubs, I 
have entirely forgotten the stinging tree until warned of its close proximity 
by its smell, and have often found myself in a little forest of them. I was 
only once stung, and that very lightly. Its effects are curious; it leaves no 
mark, but the pain is maddening; and for months afterward the part when 
touched is tender in rainy weather, or when it gets wet in washing, etc. I 
have seen a man who treats ordinary pain lightly roll on the ground in 
agony after being stung, and I have known a horse so completely mad after 
getting into a grove of the trees that he rushed open-mouthed at every one 
who approached him, and had to be shot. Dogs, when stung, will rush 
about whining piteously, biting pieces from the affected part. 

Mahogany —The mahogany tree is found in Florida, and may thus be 
claimed as indigenous to the United States; and there is no reason to doubt 
that it may and hereafter will be planted and cultivated to great advantage. 
But hitherto it has been cut chiefly in the native forests of the Bahamas, the 


343 


TREES , PLANTS , FRUITS , ETC. 

West India Islands, Honduras and Yucatan. Full-grown, it is one of the 
tuonarchs of the forests of tropical America. Its vast trunk and massive 
arms rising to a very lofty height, and spreading with graceful sweep over 
immense spaces—covered with beautiful foliage, bright, glossy, light and 
airy, clinging so long to the spray as to make it almost an evergreen—pre¬ 
sent a rare combination of loveliness and grandeur. The leaves are very 
small, delicate and polished like those of the laurel. The flowers are small 
and white, or greenish yellow. The fruit is a hard, woody capsule, oval, not 
unlike the egg of a turkey in size and shape, and contains five cells, in each 
of which are inclosed about fifteen seeds. The mahogany lumbermen, hav¬ 
ing selected a tree, surround it with a platform about twelve feet above the 
ground, and cut it above the platform. Some dozen or fifteen feet of the 
largest part of the trunk are thus lost. Yet a single log not unfrequently 
weighs from six or seven to fifteen tons, and sometimes measures as much 
as seventeen feet m length, and four and a half to five and a half feet in 
diameter, one tree furnishing two, three or four such logs. Some trees have 
yielded twelve thousand superficial feet, and at average piece prices have 
sold for $15,000. Messrs. Broadwood, London, piano manufacturers, paid 
£3,000 for three logs, all cut from one tree, and each about fifteen feet long 
and more than three feet square. 

Rosewood.— It has puzzled many people to decide why the dark wood 
so highly valued for furniture should be called “ rosewood.” Its color cer¬ 
tainly does not look much like a rose; so we must look for some other rea¬ 
son. Upon asking, we are told that when the tree is first cut, the fresh wood 
possesses a very strong rose-like fragrance—hence the name. There are a 
half dozen or more kinds of rosewood trees. The varieties are found in 
South America, and in the East Indies and neighboring islands. Some¬ 
times the trees grow so large that planks four feet broad and ten feet in 
length can be cut from them. These broad planks are principally used to 
make the tops of pianofortes. When growing in the forest, the rosewood 
tree is remarkable for its beauty; but such is its value in manufactures as 
an ornamental wood that some of the forests where it once grew abundantly, 
now have scarcely a single specimen. In Madras the government has 
prudently had great plantations of this tree set out, in order to keep up the 
supply. 


GREAT INVENTIONS. 


The Steam Engine.— The Marquis of Worcester is commonly re¬ 
garded as the inventor of the steam engine; but perhaps the most that can 
be justly said is, that he was the first person who imagined the possibility 
of constructing such a machine. The individual who actually first con¬ 
structed an engine for raising water by the alternate force and condensation 
of steam, was Captain Savary, who published an account of his invention in 
a small tract, called the “ Miner’s Friend.” In 1705, Newcomen obtained a 
patent for an improved steam engine, and in 1717 Henry Beighton made some 
further improvements, one of which is generally allowed to have been that 
of causing the steam cock to be opened and shut by the machinery—a man 
having been previously employed for the express purpose. A few other im¬ 
provements were made by different persons, but they did not affect the gen¬ 
eral action of the engine; and although defects in its power had been 
noticed, their cause was unknown till 1765, when, happily for the prosperity 
of the arts and manufactures of Britain, the subject engaged the in¬ 
genuity of Mr. Watt. The model of a Newcomen’s engine fell into his hands 
to be repaired, and in this he presently observed the immense loss of steam 
occasioned by its admission into the cylinder, just cooled for condensations; 
indeed, he went so far as to ascertain by experiment that half the steam of 
the boiler was thus lost. But the circumstance that excited his greatest 
surprise was that the injection water gained infinitely more heat than if a 
quantity of boiling water, equal to that required to form the steam, had 
been added to it. In this dilemma, he is understood to have consulted the 
celebrated Dr. Black, whose discoveries on the subject of heat were then 
the theme of general wonder, and from him he obtained such an explanation 
of the difficulty as enabled him so to alter the construction of the engine, 
that with rather less than one-third of the quantity of steam it could pro¬ 
duce the same power as one of equal dimensions on Newcomen’s plan. But 
great as was this improvement, it formed but a small part of the successful 
achievements of Mr. Watt in this department of mechanics. The application 
and utility of the engine he extended in various important ways, and at last 
arrived at that climax of improvement which consisted in making the steam 
serve to elevate as well as to depress the piston. An engine upon this plan, 
executed at Mr. Watt’s manufactory at Soho, near Birmingham, was first 
employed at the Albion Mills, in 1778. 

George Stephenson is emphatically the engineer to whose intelligence 
and perseverance we owe the introduction of railroads into England, and 
consequently into the United States. It was at Killingworth Colliery that 
he constructed his first locomotive. At first, it was not very efficient; but, 
subsequently, the grand improvement of the “ steam blast ” carried his ex¬ 
periment to a triumphant issue. Further improvements followed, and in 
1821 Stephenson was appointed engineer for the construction of the Stockton 
and Darlington Railway; the line, on its completion, being partially worked 
by means of his great invention. The rapid growth of the trade of South 



GREAT INVENTIONS. 


345 



Lancashire, together with the unpopular management of the Bridgewater 
Canal, gave rise, in 1821, to the project of a railway between Liverpool and 
Manchester. Stephenson was chosen engineer. That he proposed to work 
the line with an engine which was to go at the rate of twelve miles an hour, 
was a fact held up as of itself sufficient to stamp the project as a bubble. 
“Twelve miles an hour!” exclaimed the Quarterly Review—' “ as well trust 
one’s self to be fired off on a Congreve rocket.” When the bill ultimately 
passed, on 16th of March, 1826, Stephenson was appointed principal engineer, 
with a salary of £1,000 a year. After inconceivable difficulties, the line was 
completed in 1829. There then ensued the memorable competition of 
engines, resulting in the complete triumph of Mr. Stephenson’s “ Rocket,” 
which, to the astonishment of every one except himself, was found capable 


GEORGE STEPHENSON’S FIRST LOCOMOTIVE. 


of traveling at the till then undreamt-of rate of thirty-five miles an hour. 
“ Now,” exclaimed one of the directors, “ George Stephenson has at last 
delivered himself.” 

The first locomotive built in the United States was invented by the vener¬ 
able Peter Cooper, of New York. His engine was built at the stage shops 
of Reedside, Stockton & Stokes, in Baltimore; the foreman, Richard Imlay, 
being the directing mechanic. Mr. Reedside remembers the trial trip 
made by Mr. Cooper with his engine to the Relay House and back. The 
boiler was not much larger than that of a modern kitchen range. It stood 
upright in the car, and the part above the funiace was filled with smai 
vertical tubes. The cylinder was about three inches and a half in diameter, 
and the speed was gotten up by gearing. To create sufficient draft to 


































346 CYCLOPEDIA OF \,-SEEVL KNOWLEDGE. 


generate steam, a blowing apparatus was used. This was driven by a fly 
pulley passing over a drum, attached to one of the car wheels. Subse¬ 
quently an open car was attached to the locomotive, which did not weigh 
more than a ton, and the directors and officers of the road were carried to 
Ellicott’s Mills, Mr. Cooper acting as engineer and fireman. It is said that 
he made fifteen miles an hour. But the inventor was doomed to be greatly 
chagrined on this trip. Stockton and Stokes had two splendid gray horses 
hitched tandem to a car, waiting at the Relay House on one of the tracks for 
the return of Cooper’s party from Ellicott’s Mills. The race began, the 
start being even. The gray horses took the lead, and were soon nearly a 
quarter of a mile ahead; but by and by Mr. Cooper got steam up, and the 
iron horse began to gain, and with a wild hurrah Cooper’s passengers as 
they swept by greeted those drawn by the horse team. Just then the band 
which drove the blowing apparatus slipped off the drum, and although Mr. 
Cooper mangled his hands vainly trying to readjust it, the steam went down, 
and Stockton’s gray horses beat Cooper’s iron horse into the city. The 
boiler of Cooper’s engine is now in the shops of the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad at Mount Claire. 

The Telegraph.—It has been reserved for our own day to develop 
into practical use the capabilities of electricity and magnetism as a means 
of distant communication; although in earlier times, the possibility of such 
a use of this natural power had been frequently suggested. The public use 
of the electric telegraph dates not earlier than 1844; but the idea that mag¬ 
netism could be applied for distant communication is at least two centuries 
and a half old. Galileo, in one of his dialogues on the rival astronomical 
systems, written in 1632, puts in the mouth of one of his speakers, a refer¬ 
ence to a secret art, by which, through the sympathy of a magnetic needle, 
it would be possible to converse across a space of two or three thousand 
miles. In 1753, a letter appeared in the Scots Magazine , bearing the initials 
C. M., and headed “ An Expeditious Method of Conveying Intelligence,” in 
which we must recognize the first perception of the uses to which telegraphy 
might be put. This interesting letter starts with the remark that it “ is well 
known to all who are conversant in electric experiments, that the electric 
power may be propagated along a small wire from one place to another 
without being sensibly abated by the length of its progress; ” and it goes on 
to describe an arrangement of wires corresponding in number to the letters 
of the alphabet, to be fixed in glass or jewellers’ cement at intervals of 
twenty yards, and to convey, from an electric machine or rubber, a current 
which would lift each letter, “ marked on bits of paper, or other substance 
that might be light enough ” to rise to the electrified ball which formed the 
terminal of each wire. The apparatus proposed is crude and clumsy, yet we 
can hardly fail to recognize, in the letter of this man, the full appreciation 
of what the electric telegraph might become. Erom a period shortly an¬ 
terior to the date of the letter in the Scots Magazine , down to 1837, a large 
number of proposals, more or less ingenious, are on record. 

In the year 1832, Samuel F. B. Morse, an American artist and inventor, 
while on a voyage from Havre to New York, conceived the idea of a mag¬ 
netic telegraph. He was at first laughed at as a man of visionary ideas, and 
“ as crazy as old Morse ” was a common epithet in those days. Having but 
scanty means, Professor Morse was unable himself to apply his invention, 
and for six years he vainly petitioned Congress to appropriate a sum suffi¬ 
cient to make the experiment. He atruggled on until 1843, when, as he had 


a RE AT INVENTIONS. 


34 ? 

almost yielded to despair, Congress, at midnight, and the last moments of 
the session, appropriated $30,000 for an experimental line between Washing¬ 
ton and Baltimore. This line was completed in the following year, and the 
first message sent over it was: “ What hath God wrought?” For his great 
invention, of such incalculable service to mankind, Professor Morse was re¬ 
warded by testimonials, honors, orders of nobility and wealth. Several 
European States joined in presenting him a purse of 400,000 francs, and 
banquets were given him in London and Paris. 

An electric telegraph consists of three essential parts: 1, the bcittei'y, or 
source of electrical power; 2, the wire, or channel along which that power is 
conveyed to the required distant point; 3, the instrument , by which the 
electricity gives its signals, or makes evident to the observer its presence or 
absence, its direction or degree of intensity of action. 

The leading principle in the Morse and other allied instruments is, that 
by the depression of a key or other method, an electric circuit is “ closed ” 
or completed, and a signal is transmitted along the wire to a distant station, 
where, on its arrival, it reproduces the signal by the action of an electro¬ 
magnet or otherwise. Electrically the Morse consists of the transmitting 
key and the electro-magnet and armature; while mechanically, it consists of 
a lever, with circular wheel or disc, attached to the armature, and a clock¬ 
work arrangement, by which the paper tape to be printed upon is carried 
forward under the disc. In the first Morse instruments the marks were 
made on the paper with a pointed style (the instrument being thus known 
as the embosser); but by the invention of the ink-writing arrangement of 
Siemens, the legibility and permanency of the record were secured, besides 
the advantage that a very light current will serve to make the marks. The 
passage of a current draws down the armature, and elevates the disc, caus¬ 
ing a straight mark on the tape so long as the current flows. When it 
ceases, the spring draws back the armature and the mark is discontinued. 
Thus the duration of the current determines the natflre of the mark, a mo¬ 
mentary passage causing a dot and a longer depression of the key a dash. 
The Morse alphabet of dots and dashes is familiar to most readers. 

The Printing Press. —Originating at the middle of the fifteenth, the 
art of printing continued to be conducted until the middle of the seven¬ 
teenth century in a very clumsy manner. The press resembled a screw- 
press, with a contrivance for running the form of types under the point of 
pressure; force having been thus applied, the screw was relaxed, and the 
form withdrawn with the impression executed on the paper. The defects of 
this very rude mechanism were at length partially remedied by an ingenious 
Dutch mechanic, Willem Jansen Blaeu, who carried on the business of 
a mathematical instrument-maker at Amsterdam. He contrived a press 
in which the carriage holding the form was wound below the point of pres¬ 
sure, which was given by moving a handle attached to a screw hanging in a 
beam having a spring, which spring caused the screw to fly back as soon as 
the impression was given. This species of press, which was almost entirely 
formed of wood, continued in general use in every country in Europe till 
the beginning of the present century. 

The first real improvement upon the printing press was made by the 
Earl of Stanhope. He constructed the press of iron, and that of a size suf¬ 
ficient, to print the whole surface of a sheet, and he applied such a combined 
action of levers to the screw as to make the pull a great deal less laborious 
to the pressman, the mechanism altogether being such as to permit much 


Us CYCLOPEDIA OP VsEPUl KNOWLEDOE. 

more rapid and efficient working. A multitude of improvements speedily 
succeeded that of Earl Stanhope, in most of which the screw was dismissed, 
the pressure being generally effected by levers, or by the simple and 
efficient principle of straightening a joint. The Columbian press, the inven¬ 
tion of Mr. George Clymer, of Philadelphia, Pa., which was first exhibited in 
1818, was a signal improvement upon all its predecessors. The pressing 
power in this instance is procured by a long bar or handle acting upon a 
combination of exceedingly powerful levers above the platen, the return 
of the handle or levers being effected by means of counter-poises or weights. 

Printing by hand-presses of an improved kind continues to be used 
in the case of limited impressions, or where extra care and elegance in 
typography are required; also where machinery is unattainable; but 
in general circumstances, and more particularly to meet the demand for 
popular reading, printing is now executed by one or other of the varieties 
of cylinder-presses, moved by steam-power. On approaching a cylinder 
press when at work, we perceive two cylinders, as large as hogsheads, re¬ 
volving on upright supports; two smaller cylinders or drums revolving 
above them; and beneath, within the framework, a table, on which lie the 
types at both ends, going constantly backward and forward. A belt from a 
steam-engine, acting upon a shaft in the frame, gives motion to the whole 
apparatus. A boy, standing on the top of some steps, feeds in sheets of 
paper, each of which, on being delivered, is swept round the first cylinder 
(being held on by tapes), gets its impression below from the types, is car¬ 
ried over and betwixt the drums above, and then brought round on the 
second cylinder; now it gets its second side printed, and is delivered on a 
table completely p rinted. On minutely examining the parts, we observe 
that at each end there is an apparatus of rollers taking ink from a ductor or 
reservoir of that material, and placing it upon a portion of the moving table 
beneath; here other rollers distribute it, while others take it off and roll it 
upon the pages of types, ready for each impression. The cylinders have a 
continuous rotary motion towards each other, given by two large-toothed 
wheels, whilst the type carriages move backward and forward under them. 
The movements are so contrived that the type carriage shall have gone and 
returned to the same point during the period that the cylinders have made 
one entire revolution; consequently, each successive impression is taken 
from the types by the same part of each cylinder. The two drums placed 
between the cylinders are for the purpose of causing the sheet of paper to 
pass smoothly and accurately from one printing cylinder to the other. To 
preserve the sheet in its proper place on the cylinders, and carry it forward 
through the different parts of its journey, there is an extensive apparatus of 
tapes. These tapes are half an inch broad, and are formed into a series of 
endless bands, arranged at certain distances apart, so as to fall into the 
interstices and margins of the forms, and therefore escape being crushed 
between the types and the cylinders. The machine may be stopped at any 
instant by turning the handle of a lever. 

Many years ago the fact became manifest that for daily newspapers of 
large circulation, the entire editions of which must be printed within a few 
hours, a press such as that just lescribed was entirely inadequate. Re¬ 
course had to be made to an entirely new method of printing, the invention 
of which is due to Mr. Richard Hoe, of New York. Mr. Hoe’s process con¬ 
sisted in placing the types (for which stereotype plates were afterward sub¬ 
stituted) on a horizontal cylinder revolving on its axis, against which the 
sheets were pressed by exterior and smaller cylinders. The forms of type 


GREAT INVENTIONS. 349 

occupied only a portion of the main cylinder, the remainder affording space 
for the inking apparatus. The smaller surrounding cylinders for effecting 



the pressure were arranged in a framework, in connection with slopes, by 
which the sheets were fed in blank and came out printed on one side. The 
size of the main cylinder, the number of exterior cylinders, and the rate of 
speed determined the number of impressions printed per hour. Such was 
















350 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


the method of working Hoe’s rotary machines, which, as wanted, were made 
with two, four, six, eight or ten subsidiary cylinders. 

But Mr. Hoe’s original invention, just described, was but the commence¬ 
ment of that state of perfection to which the art of newspaper printing has 
since attained. A modern newspaper printing-machine, such as that shown 
in our illustration, prints from a continuous roll of paper and from a single 
form of type, delivering the newspapers folded and ready for the reader at 
the rate of» twenty-two thousand perfect papers per hour. Such a press 
weighs twenty-five tons, and contains five thousand separate pieces, and so 
accurately must each part be adjusted that three decimals, .001, are used in 
measurement. Over one hundred patents cover the mechanism of the ma¬ 
chine, and the entire time of an army of workmen is employed for many 
months in the construction of one of them. 

The Electric Light —The following description of the Electric Light 
is extracted from “ Gately’s Universal Educator,” by Professor Charles E. 
Beale and M. R. Gately (Boston, Mass.: M. R. Gately): 

“ When Faraday in 1846 made the discovery that light could be produced 
by the separation of two carbon rods conducting electricity of considerable 
intensity, the possibility of electric lighting on a large scale was first pre¬ 
sented to the minds of scientists. The effect appeared due to the rarefac¬ 
tion of the air by the great heat of carbon in rapid combustion, and to the 
passage of incandescent particles of carbon from pole to pole, thus reducing 
the resistance always offered by air to the passage of electricity. 

“ Years spent in the study of the subject seem to have satisfied the ad¬ 
vanced scientists that such a division of the electric light as would be neces¬ 
sary to the lighting of extensive areas was impossible; but fortunately there 
were men so little scientific in theory that they were not prevented from ex¬ 
perimenting until they succeeded in producing practical results. And within 
a year, two classes of lights have been produced which seem specially 
adapted to the uses made of them. 

The first is called the arc-light, and its principle has already been stated 
above as consisting in passing an electric current between two carbon points. 
In order, however, to produce an electric tension of sufficient force to allow 
any considerable sub-division of this light, it was necessary to invent pow¬ 
erful machines that would give a uniform motion to the current; and this 
has at last been accomplished in the dynamo-electric machine, and particu¬ 
larly that of Gramme. But, in order to use this machine, a gas or steam 
engine, or some mechanical power, is required to give rapid motion to the 
coils; and some of this power is lost in overcoming the friction of machinery, 
so that in no case can more than two-thirds of the force of the engine be 
utilized. Where water-power can be used, it will be most economical. 

“ On account of the great resistance offered by the atmosphere and car¬ 
bons at the arc, the power of sub-division of the light is comparatively lim¬ 
ited. In one light the candle-power may be as high as one-tenth of the 
number of foot-pounds of power employed; but when the attempt is made 
to divide a light—for instance, of four thousand candle-power into twenty 
arc-lights of two-hundred candle-power—it cannot be done, for much electro¬ 
motive force presents itself at each arc in an opposite direction to the ad¬ 
vancing current. A division can, however, be made with considerable loss 
of power at each arc, though the largest number of arc-lights yet produced 
by one machine is forty. 

“ The carbons which produce the arc-light are gradually consumed; 


GREAT INVENTIONS. 


351 


hence the space between the points would continually increase witli loss of 
lighting-power were it not for a self-regulating apparatus, which keeps the 
points uniformly at the same distance apart. This light is said to show pre¬ 
cisely the same spectrum as does sunlight, and is claimed to be identical in 
action. 

“ The coolness of the electric light is due to the absence of that large ex¬ 
cess of less refrangible or heat-radiating rays, which is found nearly alike 
in all other modes of artificial lighting; and this absence of heat-rays is due 
to the almost perfect combustion of carbon material, and the consequent 
transformation of nearly all the heat, on account of its great intensity, into 
light. This light is used for lighting large areas, as streets of cities. 

“ The other class of electric light is simpler in construction and more 
direct in action. It is called the incandescent light. To produce this light, 
beside the usual generating machine and conducting wires, it is necessary 
to have at each lamp, to receive the current of electricity and transform it to 
heat and light, a rather poor conductor of electricity formed into a wire 
loop or curve; and it must be either non-combustible in air, or unchange¬ 
able in a vacuum. Carbon seems to be the best substance for this purpose, 
because, as compared with the only other substance, platinum, which can 
be used in this way, it is infusible. It has, however, been found difficult to 
manage, on account of its combustibility; yet, by repeated experiments and 
indomitable perseverance, Mr. Edison, of New York, and Mr. Swan, of Eng¬ 
land, at about the same time, succeeded in producing lamps which give 
satisfaction to all who use them. The lamps are substantially the same in 
principle, though Mr. Edison’s proves more durable; Mr. Swan using a fine 
carbonized paper filament, while Mr. Edison’s lamp consists of a single curl 
or loop of carbonized bamboo, no thicker than a hair, placed in an exhausted 
glass bulb. Notwithstanding the extreme fineness of the loop, it possesses 
the elasticity of a steel spring, and will endure electric currents of great 
force. 

“ These lamps were not serviceable at first, because the air was not 
sufficiently exhausted from the bulb and the carbons were soon consumed 
by oxidation; but a more perfect vacuum was finally formed by passing a 
greater current of electricity through the carbon in the bulb than it would 
subsequently be subjected to, and at the same time exhausting the air. 
The bulb is sealed while these actions are taking place. 

“ Each lamp is subjected to this process, and is made air and water tight. 
Each carbon, by a wire passing through the bottom of the lamp, is brought 
into connection with the conducting wires from the battery or dynamo- 
machine, upon screwing the lamp into a socket prepared for it. Apparatus 
has been invented by which the amount of electricity can be regulated, and 
the same effect produced as by partially turning on or off a current of gas in 
case of gas-light. In order to light a lamp it is only necessary to turn a 
cock exactly similar to a gas-cock, and matches are not required. The de¬ 
sirableness of this lamp consists not alone in its soft, clear light, but in its 
freedom from the heating and air-vitiating qualities of other artificial lights. 

« The subdivision of this light is limitless, and depends only upon the 
quantity of electricity produced, and not upon the tension or electro-motive 
force, as does the arc-light. The success of this subdivision was only secured 
after numerous experiments, and yet, when obtained, seemed so simple that 
the inventor undoubtedly was vexed at his stupidity in not at once thinking 
of it; but it is one of the greatest accomplishments of the age. 

“ It is effected by runuing the conducting wires side by side and placing 


352 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


the lamps between them in connection with both, so that, as the electricity 
in quantity moves along the conducting wires, a sufficient amount passes 
into each lamp to produce the light, and the greater the quantity the 
brighter the light. It has been illustrated by one scientist in this way: Two 
canals conveying water are cut along the side of a hill, one above the other, 
at a distance of or T &o of the height of the hill. The upper canal is 
connected with the lower at fifty or one hundred places by sluices, in each 
of which is a water-wheel; and, as the upper canal is always kept full, each 
sluice will have a sufficient quantity of water pass through it to the lower 
canal to keep its wheel running, and if any wheel gets out of order it in no 
way affects the others. Mr. Edison is now engaged in laying five hundred 
miles of underground mains in the city of New York, under agreement to 
furnish each dwelling with light at the same rate as gas is now furnished. 

“ The arc-lamp is more economical than the incandescent lamp for the 
reason that it admits of electrical action of greater intensity; thus producing 
heat of a higher temperature and lessening the quantity expended, while in¬ 
creasing the brilliancy of the light. As at present constituted, the carbons 
of the incandescent lamps will not endure the high temperature of the arc- 
lamps, hence require a greater quantity of electricity at a comparatively 
low temperature; but their construction will in time undoubtedly be so im¬ 
proved as to render them more economical. 

“ The incandescent light admits of unlimited sub-division, because the 
circuit is not broken; hence the resistance is only that of the conducting 
wires; while the arc-light is limited in division because it only acts by the 
breaking of the circuit. Mr. Brush, however, of the Brush Arc-Light Com¬ 
pany, claims to have lately increased the power of his machines by so ar¬ 
ranging the commutator as to cut off that portion of the wires which is in¬ 
active during polarization, thus reducing the resistance; and He also claims 
to have discovered a way by which he can store the superfluous electricity 
which his machine generates during the day, and make use of it during the 
night, so as not to necessitate the running of the machine at night.” 

The Sewing Machine.— Like the stocking-frame, which in principle 
it closely resembles, we owe the invention of the sewing machine to the in¬ 
genuity of a poor mechanic, striving to lessen the labor which he saw was a 
real hardship upon his wife and other poor women. Elias Howe, a native 
of Massachusetts, surrounded by a young family for whom he was obliged 
to labor during the day, devoted his after-hours to the construction of a 
sewing machine. This was about the year 1841, and his career since that 
period forms a striking chapter in the annals of intelligent labor, and fur¬ 
nishes another proof of the saying that “ fact is stranger than fiction.” After 
incessant labor, during the latter part of which he and his family were in¬ 
debted to a friend for the means of subsistence, he completed the first work¬ 
ing sewing machine, the patent for which was granted to him in May, 1841. 
He did not succeed in inducing the people of the United States to see the 
value of his patent, and came to England where, after patenting it there 
also, he met with so much discouragement that he sold the patent for £250 
and a royalty of £3 per machine to a staymaker, Mr. Thomas, of Cheapside, 
London, who used it successfully in his own business, but did so little 
towards making it public that for several years its existence was only known 
to a very few individual manufacturers. When Howe reached his own 
country again, he found his American patent pirated by a wealthy company; 
but with admirable spirit he asserted his rights, and succeeded in establish- 


GREAT INVENTIONS. 353 

ing them; and it is gratifying to know that his talent, industry and perse¬ 
verance were rewarded, for he became a wealthy man. Howe’s machine 
vorce what is called the lock-stitch, but since his invention became 
known, numerous improvements and modifications have been introduced by 
other inventors. The principal of these are as follows: 1. Machines which 
sew with one thread; of which one kind makes the tlirough-and-through or 
shoemaker s stUch, the thread being held and pushed through with pincers, 
one pair on each side of the material to be sewn. The needle is pointed at 
each end and being pushed through by the pincers on one side, is taken 
hold of by the corresponding pair on the other, and the thread is thus pulled 
through backwards and forwards. Only a small length of thread can be 
used by this machine, hence it is of but limited application. 2. Another 
single-thread machine makes the running-stitch. In this, the needle is 
stationary and receives a continuous supply of thread from a reel, the two 
small-toothed wheels are so arranged that their teeth, pressing into one an¬ 
other, crimp the two pieces of 
cloth, and push them forward 
against the point of the needle, 
which, as it gets filled, is relieved 
by the operator, who keeps 
drawing the sewn cloth off' at the 
eye-end of the needle. This ma¬ 
chine answers admirably in cases 
where loose tacking is required. 

It is the invention of an Ameri¬ 
can of the name of Bostwick. 3. 

The chain or tambour stitch is 
also a single-thread stitch, 
the machine for which was in¬ 
vented by M. Thimmonier, a 
Frenchman, in 1848. In this, the 
thread is looped upon itself by 
means of a curved shuttle after 
it has passed through the cloth. 

This kind of stitch, though very 
useful for some kinds of work, is 
easily pulled out. 4. Wheeler 
and Wilson’s is a double-thread machine, and besides the vertical eye- 
pointed needle, has a curved shuttle or hook working below, with a 
revolving reel inside its curve. The reel is of metal, each side being con¬ 
vex externally; and so adjusted on the axle that the edges are so near to¬ 
gether as to admit only one thickness of the thread to pass through. It fits 
easily within the nearly circular hook, and gives off its thread as required. 
The thread passes partly round the outer edge of the hook upon a slightly 
grooved bevel which forms a loop, and passes it between the needle and the 
thread which it carries with it in descending; the loop is held in position as 
the needle ascends, and the cloth being moved on, the next descent of 
the needle takes it through the loop and receives another below it, which 
renders the first one tightly locked. Sewing machines have been patented 
in America and England by another American named Blake for sewing the 
soles on boots and shoes; and so rapid are they in their work, that it is 
said during the war in the United States as many as one hundred and fifty 
pairs of soles have been sewed on army boots in one day by a single 



SHUTTLE OF THE WHEELER AND WILSON 
SEWING MACHINE. 




854 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

machine. Special sewing machines are also in use for sewing the upper 
leathers of boots and shoes, for gloves, for embroidery, and for various 
other purposes. 

The Telephone.—This instrument is designed to convey sounds to a 
distance by electricity. Sound being propagated by vibration of air, the 
scientific requirement of tho telephone is that it should, by the vibration of 
a tongue or membrane, represent different sounds; and to do this the cur¬ 
rents of electricity must vary continuously in the proportion of the velocity 
of the movements of air producing the sounds. In the telephone of Eeis, of 
Frankfurt, produced in 1860, the “ transmitter ” consisted of a membrane 
which, by means of a simple contact-breaker, sent a series of currents along 
the line, producing in the “ receiver ” a series of ticks, their varying rapidity 
reproducing, though somewhat faintly, the quality and tone of the trans¬ 
mitted note. In 1874, Elisha Gray, of Chicago, adapted the telephonic prin¬ 
ciple to “multiplex” telegraphy over a single wire, the vibrations of a 
series of tuning forks affording the different tones in which several individ¬ 
ual messages could be simultaneously sent. The telephone of A. Graham 
Bell, an Edinburgh gentleman resident in America, attracted much attention 
at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. The transmitter shows a mem¬ 
brane, bearing on its center a small piece of iron, placed opposite the poles 
of an electro-magnet. The receiver, an upright tube enclosing an electro¬ 
magnet, has fixed on the top a thin disc of iron, left free to vibrate. The 
sounds are produced by the vibrations of this disc, corresponding to cur¬ 
rents of electricity from the other end, sounds made before the transmitter 
being reproduced with startling fidelity. Speeches made and songs sung 
have been distinctly heard at a distance of eighteen miles; and in a paper read 
before the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in May, 1876, Mr. Bell 
stated that when two persons spoke before the transmitter, both sounds 
could be distinguished at the other end. The telephone has come into gen¬ 
eral use in all parts of the United States, and is undoubtedly one of the 
most important and valuable of modern inventions. 

The Microphone.— This instrument, invented in 1878 by Professor 
Hughes, does for faint sounds what the mioroscope does for matter too 
■mall for sight—the fall of a bit of tissue paper or the tread of a fly being 
rendered audible at many miles distance. In principle the microphone 
illustrates the action of sonorous vibrations on the strength of an electric 
current. One of the most sensitive substances for microphonic action is 
willow-charcoal, plunged in a state of white heat into mercury. The theory 
is that in a homogeneous conductor the compressions and dilatations of the 
molecules balance each other, and no variation of current ensues, while 
under minute sub-division, with electrical continuity, sonorous waves 
affect the strength of an electric current, and variations in the current re¬ 
produce sonorous waves. One form of microphone consists of a piece of 
mercury-tempered carbon an inch long, placed vertically between two car¬ 
bon-blocks hollowed to receive its ends, wires connecting the blocks with 
the battery and the receiver by which the sounds are to be heard. “ A 
piece of willow-charcoal,” says the inventor, “ the size of a pin’s head is 
sufficient to reproduce articulate speech.” Two nails laid parallel, with 
wire connections, and a third nail laid across them, make a simple form of 
microphone. A few cells of any form of battery may be used. A continu¬ 
ous sound is made by the mutual interaction of the microphone and tele- 


GREAT INVENTIONS. 


355 


phone, each instrument in turn repeating the sound made by the other. 
Many useful applications of the microphone have been made. 

The Cotton Gin.— Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton gin, was 
born at Westborough, Massachusetts, December 8, 1765, and was educated 
at Yale College, where he paid his expenses partly by school teaching, partly 
by mechanical labor. Having graduated in 1792, he went to Georgia as a 
teacher; hut finding a generous patron in the widow of General Greene, of 
the revolutionary army, he resided upon her estate and studied law. The 
cotton culture at this period, especially that of the best kind, the “ green 
seed,” was limited by the slow and difficult work of separating the cotton 
from theseed by hand; but Mrs. Greene told her complaining neighbors that 
she was sure Whitney could help them out of their trouble, for he could 
make anything. At their desire, he set to work under great disadvantages, 
for he had to make his own tools, and even draw his own wire; but the re¬ 
ports of his success prompted some lawless people to break into his work¬ 
shop and steal his machine and get others made before he could secure a 
patent. He, however, formed a partnership with a Mr. Miller, in 1793, and 
went to Connecticut to manufacture cotton gins; but the lawsuits in defense 
of his rights took all his profits, likewise $50,000 voted him by the State of 
South Carolina. He afterward amassed a fortune in the manufacture of fire¬ 
arms, but received but barren honor from the gin, one of the most important 
of the whole series of inventions connected with the cotton manufacture. The 
machine invented by Mr. Whitney is composed of a hopper, having one side 
formed of strong parallel wires placed so close together as to exclude the 
passage of the seeds from within. The cotton is dragged through the aper¬ 
tures by means of circular saws attached to a large roller, and made to re¬ 
volve between the wires, the seeds sinking to the bottom of the hopper. 

The Spinning' Jenny —The modern system of cotton manufacture 
dates no further back than about 1760. Prior to the mechanical inventions 
of Hargreaves, Arkwright, Crompton and Cartwright, the arts of spinning 
and weaving were entirely domestic, and the instruments of manipulation 
much the same as those which had been in use in the East for centuries be¬ 
fore. By means of the ancient distaff and spindle, or the more recent spin¬ 
ning-wheel, only one thread at a time was produced, and the process, as 
may be imagined, was tedious, and not very remunerative; besides which, 
only a very inferior yarn was the result. Altogether in the middle of the 
eighteenth century the machinery for spinning was much more imperfect 
than that for weaving, and the weavers of the time were often at a stand for 
want of yarn to go on with. 

This state of things had long occupied the attention of the thinking por ¬ 
tion of the spinners, but without any practical result until the invention of 
the “jenny,” by Hargreaves, about 1767. By this machine, eight threads at 
a time could be spun against the one of the spinning-wheel. Hargreaves 
was much abused by the populace of his native town and neighborhood, who 
feared that the invention would deprive them of all employment; the ma¬ 
chine was destroyed, and the inventor compelled to leave his birthplace. 
Genius, however, ultimately triumphed, and the “ spinning jenny ” was 
patented at Nottingham in 1770. The year previously, Arkwright had pat¬ 
ented his “ water-frame,” or “ throstle,” for spinning by rollers, by means 
of which a stronger and much firmer yarn was produced. It was about 
this period that fabrics composed entirely of cotton were woven for the first 


356 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


time, the “jenny ” supplying the weft, and the “ throstle ” the warp. A few 
years later, Mr. Crompton brought out a new piece of mechanism, which he 
styled the “ mule jenny,” from its combining the 'principles of both Har¬ 
greaves’ and Arkwright’s patents; but it had an advantage over both, inso¬ 
much as it produced a much finer yarn than either. The “ mule ” came into 
full play in or about 1780, which is the period assigned for the birth of the 
muslin trade. There was now no longer a scarcity of yarn; the fear was 
that that there would be too much, for it was clear that the hand-loom 
weavers of the time could nut keep up with the improved spinning ma¬ 
chinery. But the invention of the “ power loom,” by Dr. Cartwright, in 
1785, set aside all doubts in this respect. 

The first “ mule jenny ” contained about thirty spindles, which, instead 
of being stationary, as in the “jenny” and “throstle,” were placed on a 
carriage, which was moved outwards in order, while twisting, to increase 
the fineness of the thread, and inwards again to wind the yarn on the spin¬ 
dles. This required the constant attendance of a spinner to wheel the car¬ 
riage backwards and forwards; but subsequent improvements have gone so 


far as to produce what 
is called the self-act¬ 
ing mule, two or three 
of which only require 
the assistance of one 
person, generally a 
boy or girl, whose 
place it is to piece any 
of the threads which 
may break during 
spinning. Mules of this 
construction are made 
with as many as one 
thousand or two thou¬ 
sand spindles, some¬ 
times more; and with 



THE SPINNING JENNY. 


the self-actor, as now improved, a single thread has been produced meas¬ 
uring upwards of one thousand miles in length, and yet weighing but one 
pound. 

The Type-Setting 1 Machine.— The first type-composing machine 
on the records of the English Patent Office appears to be that of Mr. W. 
Church, and the specification of his patent is dated March, 1822. This, after 
a lapse of twenty years, was followed by a number of others, scarcely a 
year passing without one or more being made the subject of a patent. For 
at least half a century, therefore, the construction of a useful type-setting 
machine has been a problem which a number of ingenious men have tried 
to solve, but it is only within the last year or two that there has been any¬ 
thing more than the mere appearance of success. If the reader will look 
carefully at a page of printed matter, he will notice that the spaces between 
the words are not equal, and he will readily understand that to reduce this 
inequality to a minimum, requires skill and experience if the work is to go 
on swiftly. It is in the doing of this, whioh is called “justifying,” where a 
machine fails, because another operator must afterward space the machine 
setting into lines of equal length. It is comparatively easy to construct a 
machine which will, by some mechanical arrangement, drop any require# 











a HEAT INVENTIONS. 


357 


letter from a series of files or reservoirs of types, through a channel which 
conveys to a composing stick —that is, which will set up type in any required 
order, but with exactly equal spaces between the words; but the difficulty of 
justifying has not yet been got over. Still, as that operation can be per¬ 
formed by girls at comparatively little cost, there is a decided advantage in 
favor of the machine. 

In the early composing-machine by Church, the types are arranged in 
files in a case at the top, each file being directly over a slit in a horizontal 
frame. One of a number of jacks protrudes through each of these slits, 
each jack being connected with a key in a manner somewhat similar to the 
jacks and keys of a harpsichord. On the depressing of any particular key, 
the undermost type of the file is pushed into a race, from which it passes to 
a composing stick. It is surprising bow closely this description conveys to 
us the leading idea in most of the type-composing machines invented since 
1822. Hattersley’s machine, for example, which was patented in 1857, has 
somewhat analogous movements, but the keys are arranged more like those 
of a concertina , and the details are different. This machine, which occupies 
a space of about two feet by three, has a horizontal top stage on which is 
placed a partitioned tray, containing the rows of types running from back to 
front, each row being of course all the same letter. Descending vertically 
along the front of this tray is a series of as many wires with pistons as there 
are rows of types, and these pistons are depressed by the keys acting by 
bell-cranks, and then returned to their first position by means of india-rub¬ 
ber bands or springs. A propeller kept in a state of tension by an india- 
rubber spring is placed in the rear of each row of types, and draws them 
forward to the piston. When the girl working the machine presses down, say 
an e key, it depresses the e piston, which pulls down with it an e type, and 
drops it into a tube or channel which conveys it to what represents the com¬ 
posing stick, and so on with every other letter, figure, comma, or “space.” 
The series of channels converge to a focus or common outlet, through which 
every type in succession passes to its proper place. Machines on Hattersley’s 
principle, with the details much improved by Mx*. Fraser, of Edinburgh, are 
at present in use. With one of these machines a girl can compose from 
“ copy ” at the rate of from ten thousand to twelve thousand types per hour, 
but this rate can hardly be maintained continuously, the strain of such 
rapid setting being too great for the operator. The types are set in long 
lines, and require afterwards to be “justified.” This is done by another 
girl, who, with the aid of a slip of brass of the desired length of the line, 
forms the matter into pages, spacing out each line as she proceeds. 

The want of an efficient distributing'machine has hitherto been the great 
drawback to the adoption of composers, but Mr. Fraser has met this diffi¬ 
culty by constructing a distributer which bids fair to supply the want. It 
separates the different letters by a series of switches acted upon by keys 
similar to those of the composing machine. On the depression of a key, 
the corresponding switch is opened, and the type guided to its proper com¬ 
partment in the composing-machine reservoir. Type-setting and distrib¬ 
uting machines like the above in their plan of working have been in opera¬ 
tion for several years. Another composing machine, by Mr. Mackie, of 
Warrington, England, deserves notice for the ingenuity shown in its con¬ 
struction. It is much more elaborate than any of those above referred to. 
The first operation is to perforate slips of stiff paper, which is done by a 
separate machine. These slips, when perforated, represent the words to be 
composed, and are then passed to the composing-machine proper. In it the 


858 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

types are placed by hand in a series of boxes above the circumference of a 
large wheel, which is made to revolve, and at each revolution a certain part, 
acting in concert with the previously perforated paper, comes in contact 
with mechanism which releases the desired types at the proper time, and 
carries them forward to a point, where they are pushed off into lines in the 
composing stick. 

The Type-Writer.—The writing machine called the Type-Writer was 
invented at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1867, by C. Latham Sholes, Samuel W. 
Soule and Carlos Glidden, and patented in 1868. Mr. Glidden’s suggestion 
that such a machine ought to be made was his principal contribution to the 
enterprise. It was Mr. Soule who suggested pivoted types set in a circle, 
and Mr. Sholes who suggested the letter-spacing device. The other minor 
details of the first crude machine were the work of Mr. Soule. The labor 
spent in experimenting extended over a period of nearly ten years, during 
which many machines were made and condemned, although each was an 
improvement upon its predecessor. But when at length the first complete 


and finished type¬ 
writer was made and 
offered to the public 
by Messrs. E. Rem¬ 
ington & Sons, of 
Ilion, New York, to 
whom its manufac¬ 
ture had been en¬ 
trusted, it was recog¬ 
nized at once as one 
of the great inven¬ 
tions of modern 
times. Thetypesare 
at the end of levers, 
so arranged as to 
strike at a common 



THE TYPE-WBITER. 


printing point, the operator having but to depress keys, arranged with refer¬ 
ence to rapidity of motion in the necessary order. The paper is passed 
along by a species of clock-work machinery. An expert operator can write 
with this machine more than twice as fast as with the pen. It is in much 
favor with business men, who, by employing an operator likewise familiar 
with stenography, may in a few moments dictate a mass of correspondence 
which would otherwise perhaps consume a day’s time in execution. It is 
likewise of inestimable service to lawyers and others, for by the use of car¬ 
bon paper, several copies of any writing or instrument executed upon the 
type-writer may be taken. The Standard Type-Writer is still manufactured 
under the original patents by Messrs. E. Remington & Sons, and sold ex¬ 
clusively by the firm of Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict, of New York, who are 
sole agents for the world. 

Tlie Mower and Reaper.— In the first century of the Christian era 
Pliny the elder found a reaping machine in Gaul. He described it as a van, 
with projecting teeth on the edge, which was driven upon two wheels 
through the standing grain by an ox yoked in a reverse position. This rude 
affair tore off the ears, abandoning the straw. Four centuries later Palla- 
dius found a similar appliance for reaping grain in Gaul. 







GREAT INVENTIONS. 


359 


In modem times the idea of a mechanical reaper appears to have origi¬ 
nated with a Mr. Capel Lloft, an Englishman, who, in 1785, suggested a ma¬ 
chine very little superior to the rude appliance above described. In the 
early part of the present century numerous patents were granted in Great 
Britain for mechanical reapers, and the Rev. Patrick Bell, a Scotchman, in 
i.826, constructed a simple machine, several features of which are observ¬ 
able in the reapers of the present day. All of these machines, however, were 
more or less crude and experimental, and the real credit for the invention 
of the mower and reaper is due to two Americans, Hussey and McCormick. 

In 1833 Obed Hussey invented the reciprocating wave-edged knife, and 
his machine, having been tried in the State of Ohio, was patented the same 
year. In 1834, C. M. McCormick, a Virginian, patented a reaper which 
comprised many improvements, but in which Mr. Hussey’s knife was 
adopted. In the early days of the reaper the sheaves were delivered di¬ 
rectly in the rear of the machine, whereby a sufficient number of men were 
required in the harvest field to bind the grain as fast as cut. Subsequently 
the platform of the machine was made of a quadrant shape, the sheaves be¬ 
ing delivered at the side. The delivery of the sheaves by manual labor was 
early abandoned, and many improvements in the self-raking attachments 
were invented and patented. In recent years the entire attention of the 
manufacturers of patented harvesters has been devoted to the invention of 
an attachment for binding the grain as it is cut. Some of these binders use 
wire, others cord, the latter being preferred. 

The Sand Blast.— Among the wonderful and useful inventions of the 
times is the common sand blast. Suppose you desire to letter a piece of 
marble for a gravestone; you cover the stone with a sheet of wax no thicker 
than a wafer, then cut in the wax the name, date, etc., leaving the marble 
exposed. Now pass it under the blast and the wax will not be injured at 
all, but the sand will cut the letters deep into the stone. Or, if you desire 
raised letters, a flower or other emblem, cut the letters, flowers, etc., in the 
wax, and stick them upon the stone; then pass the stone under the blast 
and the sand will cut it away. Remove the wax and you will have the let¬ 
ters raised. Take a piece of French plate glass, say two feet by six, and 
cover it with fine lace; pass it under the blast and not a thread of the lace 
will be injured, but the sand will cut deep into the glass wherever it is not 
covered with lace. Now remove the lace and you have a very delicate and 
beautiful figure raised upon the glass. In this way beautiful figures of all 
kinds are cut in glass, and at a little expense. The workmen can hold their 
hands under the blast without harm, even when it is rapidly cutting away 
the hardest glass, iron, or stone, but they must look out for their finger 
nails, for they will be whittled off right hastily. If they put on steel thim¬ 
bles to protect the nails, it will do little good, for the sand will soon whittle 
them away, but if they wrap a piece of soft cotton around them they are 
safe. You will at once see the philosophy of it. The sand whittles away 
and destroys any hard substance, even glass, but does not affect substances 
that are soft and yielding, like wax, cotton, or fine lace, or even the human 
hand. 

Accidental Discoveries _Valuable discoveries have been made and 

valuable inventions suggested by the veriest accidents. An alchemist, 
while seeking to discover a mixture of earths that would make the most 
durable crucibles, one day found that he had made porcelain. 


360 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The power of lenses, as applied to the telescope, was discovered by a 
watch-maker’s apprentice. While holding spectacle glasses between his 
thumb and his finger he was startled at the sudden enlarged appearance of 
a neighboring church spire. 

The art of etching upon glass was discovered by a Nuremberg glasscut- 
ter. By accident a few drops of aqua fortis fell upon his spectacles. He 
noticed that the glass corroded and softened where the acid had touched it. 
That was hint enough. He drew figures upon the glass with varnish, ap¬ 
plied the corroding fluid, then cut away the glass around the drawing. 
When the varnish was removed the figure appeared raised upon a dark 
ground. 

Mezzotinto owed its invention to the simple accident of the gun-barrel of 
a sentry becoming rusty with dew. The swaying of a chandelier in a cathe¬ 
dral suggested to Galileo the application of a pendulum. 

The art of lithographing was perfected through a suggestion made by 
accident. A poor musician was curious to know whether music could not 
be etched upon stone as well as upon copper. After he had prepared his 
slab his mother asked him to make a memorandum of such clothes as he 
proposed to be sent away to be washed. Not having pen, ink and paper 
convenient, he wrote the list on the stone, intending to make a copy at his 
leisure. A few days later, when about to clean the stone, he wondered 
what effect aqua fortis would have upon it. He applied the acid, and in a 
few minutes saw the writing standing out in full relief. The next step was 
simply to ink the stone and take off an impression. Hence the lithograph. 

It is said that the rolling of cold iron was first suggested by the fact that 
a workman who was placing a piece of hot iron in the rolls carelessly per¬ 
mitted his tongs to be drawn in. He noticed that they were rolled, and not 
broken. He called the attention of the superintendent to the occurrence, 
and this led to investigation and experiment and the discovery that cold 
rolled iron is equal to steel for shafting purposes. The process of rolling 
iron cold was not long afterward patented, and millions of dollars have 
been made out of the patent. 

There are many similar instances where observing workmen have called 
attention to valuable processes. A signal one was in the early period of the 
cotton manufacture, when a good deal of trouble w r as caused* by the cotton 
sticking to the bobbins. All the workmen in the mill were delayed by the 
necessity of stopping work to clean the bobbins. At last one w orkman 
found a way to obviate the trouble. He, and he alone in all the mill, had 
clean bobbins. For a long time he kept his secret to himself. He finally 
revealed it on the promise of a pint of beer a day for life. His secret was to 
“ chalk the bobbins.” That little scraping of salt on the bobbins saved mil¬ 
lions of dollars a year, and the observing workman got not only his beer, 
but a competence. 

The Age of Inventions.—The number of inventions that have been 
made during the past fifty years is perhaps unprecedented in the history of 
the world. Of course inventions of benefit to the human race have been 
made in all ages since man was created; but looking back for half a hun¬ 
dred years, how many more are crowded into the past fifty than into any 
other fifty since recorded history ! The perfection of the locomotive, and 
the now world traversing steamship, the telegraph, the telephone, the audi- 
phone, the sewing machine, the photograph, chromo-lithographic printing, 
toe cylinder printing press, the elevator for hotels and other many storied 


GREAT INVENTIONS . 


361 

buildings, the cotton gin and the spinning jenny, the reaper and mower, the 
steam thresher, the steam fire engine, the improved process for making 
steel, the application of chloroform and ether to destroy sensibility in pain¬ 
ful surgery cases, and so on through a long catalogue. 

Nor are we yet done in the field of invention and discovery. The appli¬ 
cation of coal gas and petroleum to heating and cooking operations is only 
trembling on the verge of successful experiment, the introduction of the 
steam from a great central reservoir to general use for heating and cooking 
is foreshadowed as among the coming events, the artificial production of 
butter has already created consternation among dairymen, the navigation of 
the air by some device akin to our present balloon would also seem to be 
prefigured, and the propulsion of machinery by electricity is even now 
clearly indicated by the march of experiment. There are some problems 
we have hitherto deemed impossible, but are the mysteries of even the 
most improbable of them more subtle to the grasp than that of the ocean 
cable or that of the photograph or the telephone? We talk by cable with 
an ocean rolling between: -we speak in our own voices to friends one hun¬ 
dred miles or more from where we articulate before the microphone. 

Under the blazing sun of July we produce ice by chemical means, rival¬ 
ing the most solid and crystalline production of nature. Our surgeons 
graft the skin from one person’s arm to the face of another, and it adheres 
and becomes an integral portion of his body. We make a mile of white 
printing paper, and send it on a spool that a perfecting printing press un¬ 
winds and prints, and cuts, and delivers to you folded and counted, many 
thousands per hour. Of a verity this is the age of invention, nor has the 
world reached a stopping-place yet. 

Coincidences in Inventions.— Coincidences in invention and dis¬ 
covery are the rule rather than the exception. When any notable advance 
is made in the knowledge of the laws of nature, or in applying that knowl¬ 
edge, old or new, to the service of man, it is hardly ever one person alone 
who makes the discovery or the application. Almost always more than one 
claimant appears, and frequently several make good their claims to the 
honor of having pursued independently and to valuable results the same 
line of thought or experiment that has made one of their number famous by 
associating his name permanently with the great invention or discovery. Le 
Verrier and Adams almost simultaneously reasoned out the existence of the 
planet Neptune, and directed astronomical observers how to point their tele¬ 
scopes in order to find it. Professor Morse’s title to distinction as the in¬ 
ventor of the magnetic telegraph was stubbornly contested by men who had 
labored with the same idea before it occurred to him. Half a dozen others 
had toiled upon the problem of steam navigation before Fulton solved it. 
Morton, Jackson, and Wells were experimenting with anesthetics at the 
same time, and the merit of the discovery is still claimed for each of them. 
Bell and Gray invented their respective telephones almost at the same 
time. Edison and Hughes dispute each other’s claim to priority in the in¬ 
vention of the microphone. In some of these cases probably one claimant 
has knowingly or unconsciously borrowed something from his rival; but 
those where two or more persons have pursued independently substantially 
the same line of research and experiment, tending to the same result, are 
very numerous. 




/ / 


MINING. 


Gold.—Gold has been known and regarded as the most precious of the 
metals from the earliest ages of the world, and has been universally em¬ 
ployed as a medium of exchange. Although the quantity of gold which is 
found, when compared with that of many other metals, is small, yet there 
are few parts of the globe in which it does not occur more or less abun¬ 
dantly. In the native state, it occurs crystallized, the primary form being 
the cube, or in plates, ramifications, or nodules—popularly known as 
nuggets —which sometimes are of very considerable size. It is almost 
always alloyed with silver, and sometimes with tellurium, bismuth, lead, 
etc. It sometimes occurs in small quantity in metallic sulphides, as in 
galena, iron and copper pyrites. 

In its compact state, it possesses a characteristic yellow color and high 
metallic lustre, is nearly as soft as lead, and is the most malleable of all 
metals. It can be beaten into leaves of a thinness not exceeding 1-200,000, 
or, according to some authors, 1-280,000 of an inch, through which light 
passes with a green tint; one grain may thus be distributed over fifty-six 
square inches of surface, and the ductility of the metal is so great, that the 
same quantity may be drawn out into five hundred feet of wire. 

Gold was, in all probability, one of the earliest discovered of the metals. 
The fact of its being found very generally distributed over the surface of the 
earth, and that, too, in its simple metallic state, combined with its beautiful 
color, and many valuable properties, would cause it very early to attract 
the attention of man. Accordingly we learn that gold was used by the He¬ 
brews, the Egyptians, and other ancient nations, for much the same pur¬ 
poses as it is at the present day. 

Previous to the great Californian discovery in 1847, Europe was to a 
great extent supplied with gold from Mexico, Brazil, New Granada, Chili 
and Peru in North and South America; a large quantity was also obtained 
from Asiatic Russia and the islands of the Indian Archipelago; the east and 
west coast of Africa furnished a less but still considerable quantity. All 
these countries still produce gold, but their total yield, including Europe, 
is only about one-fourth that of California and Australia. 

The rich gold region of California was discovered in September, 1847. 
Mr. Marshall, the contractor for a saw-mill on the estate of Captain Suter— 
a Swiss emigrant, settled on the banks of the Sacramento River—detected 
particles of gold in the sand of the mill-race, and on further examination, it 
was found that valuable deposits existed throughout the bed of the stream. 
Intelligence of the discovery soon reached the town of San Francisco, whose 
scanty population at once abandoned their usual occupations to join in the 
exciting search for gold. The supply was soon found to be abundant over a 
large area, and emigrants quickly poured in from all parts of the American 
continent, and ere long from Great Britain, Germany, and other European 
countries, till the population of San Francisco alone rose from under two 
hundred in 1845 to forty thousand in 1858, and in 1870 it was one hundred 



MINING. 


363 


and fifty thousand. At first it was thought that the supply of gold ^m 
this region would soon fail, but though the supply, which ftoutinued for 
several years at upwards of $85,000,000 per annum, had ,n 1874 fallen to 
between six and seven millions, which, moreover, included the yield of the 
adjoining States of Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, future mining 
prospects are far from being discouraging. 

In 1851, before the excitement of the Californian discovery had time to 
subside, the world was startled by the announcement of another, or rather 
by a series of others, of not less importance, in Australia. It is a curious 
fact that not only Sir B. Murchison, but also the Bev. W. B. Clarke, a native 
geologist, had pointed out the likelihood of gold being found in the eastern 
chain of the Australian mountains several years before the value of the 
gold fields near Bathurst was discovered by Mr. Hargraves in April, 1851. 
This discovery was no sooner made, however, than several other places in 
Bathurst and the adjoining counties were found to contain rich deposits; so 
that, before many months had passed, six thousand persons were employed 
at these diggings. In August of the same year, further discoveries of gold 
were made at Ballarat, in Victoria, which excelled in richness those of the 
Sydney district; and these, in turn, ere soon surpassed by fresh discov¬ 
eries in the Mount Alexander range. During the climax of the excitement 
created by the Victoria gold fields, the number of diggers rose to such a 
pitch as to withdraw for a time the great mass of the population from Mel¬ 
bourne and Geelong. 

The modes of working adopted at the first start of the diggings were 
necessarily rude and wasteful; the fortunes of the gold seekers, too, were 
of course very variable under such a system, many of them having made 
large profits—as much in a few instances as five thousand dollars and up¬ 
wards in a single week—but many more met with nothing but disappoint¬ 
ment. A more systematic plan of mining, however, has now been intro¬ 
duced, by which the auriferous deposits are more completely worked out, 
and mining undertakings rendered less precarious. But notwithstanding 
the improved methods of working, the average annual produce of gold in 
the Australian colonies for the five years ending 1874, was only about $35,- 
000,000, which was less than two-thirds of the yields of some earlier years. 
In the London International Exhibition of 1862 there was a gilded pyramid 
ten feet square at the base and forty-five feet high, representing the mass 
of gold exported from Victoria between the 1st of October, 1851, and the 1st 
of October, 1861. Its weight in solid gold would have been 26,162,432 ounces 
troy, which, taken roundly at $20 per ounce, gives its value as $523,248,640. 
The produce of California since the discovery of its gold fields in 1847, up 
to the present time, may be estimated at about 50,000,000 ounces, and its 
value at $1,000,000,000. 

Since the two great gold regions of California and Australia became 
known, three new ones of considerable promise have been discovered—one 
of them in British Columbia, the value of which was proved in 1858, although 
previously it was to some extent known to the Hudson’s Bay Company; an¬ 
other is being successfully developed in Nova Scotia; and a third in the 
province of Otago, New Zealand. It would appear that there is a great 
similarity between the general rock systems and auriferous deposits of this 
region and those of Australia. Before passing from the subject of recent 
gold fields, it is worth noting that a few years ago, Dr. Livingstone, the 
African traveler, discovered gold near Tete on the Zambesi—a district 
which may be found to be rich in the precious metal, when more de* 


m CYCLOPAEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

liberately surveyed. Its position is remarkable as occurring in the center 
of a coal field. 

The annual produce of gold in the whole world at the present time is 
somewhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundred millions of dol¬ 
lars. Wherever gold is found, its origin can generally be traced to quartz 
veins in the primary or volcanic rocks, such as granite, gneiss, porphyry, 
clay-slate, or greenstone. As these rocks became decomposed by the action 
of the weather, portions of the auriferous veins were carried down by 
streams and floods, and so found their way into the deposits of sand, clay 
and shingle in river beds, and in the gullies and flats of hills. Many aurif¬ 
erous drifts are of great thickness, formed by long-continued wasting of the 
rocks of neighboring hills, and therefore require mining to a considerable 
depth. Gold for the most part is found in small grains, or scales, called 
gold dust; some of it, however, in pieces, or nuggets of considerable size. 
One found at Ballarat in 1858, called “The Welcome,” weighed 2,166 ounces, 
and its value was about $40,000. Another discovered in Donolly District, 
Australia, in 1869, weighed 2,520 ounces, and its value was about $45,000. A 
good deal of the Mexican and European gold is obtained from auriferous 
pyrites. 

Nearly all the metals except gold are most usually found as ores chemi¬ 
cally combined with oxygen, sulphur, or other substances; and they there¬ 
fore require to be separated by chemical processes. Gold ores, if we may 
use the term, require to be mechanically treated by the processes of crush¬ 
ing, stamping and washing; the amalgamation process being resorted to 
when the gold occurs in a state of fine division. 

One kind of crushing mill consists of two large cast-iron rollers, which 
break the auriferous quartz into small pieces as it passes through between 
them. More usually now, a stamping mill is used with iron-shod piles of 
wood, wrought by an axle with projecting cams, after the fashion of fliflt 
mills and beetling machines. The ore pounded by the stamps is next 
washed, and for doing this there is an almost endless number of con¬ 
trivances. In one of the richest quartz districts of California, it is carried 
by a current of water over coarse woolen blankets laid on slooping boards. 
By this plan, the lighter particles of quartz are carried away, and the par¬ 
ticles of gold become entangled in the fibres of the wool. The blankets are 
washed at intervals in a tank, where the gold and other matters caught on 
their surface accumulates. It is then ready for the amalgamation process. 

The gold of auriferous drift is partly extracted by washing, but there still 
remain minute particles invisible to the naked eye mixed with the gangue; 
indeed, some auriferous soils contain all their gold in a state of extreme 
division. To recover the gold either from this or stamped quartz, an amal¬ 
gam is made; that is, it is mixed with mercury, which lias the power of 
seizing on and dissolving the gold particles, however minute. The mercury 
is afterwards distilled off in a retort, leaving the gold nearly pure. Gold 
has of late been profitably extracted from sulphuretted ores by Plattner’s 
process, which converts it into a liquid chloride, and the gold is then pre¬ 
cipitated from the solution by metallic copper. 

Silver.— Silver is a metal which, in its compact state, is of a brilliant 
white color, possesses the metallic lustre to a remarkable degree, is capable 
yf being highly polished, and evolves a clear ringing sound when struck. It 
is harder than gold, but softer than copper, and is one of the most ductile of 
the metals. It is malleable, may be hammered into very thin leaves, and 


MINING. 


365 


may be drawn out into very fine wire, the thinnest silver leaf having a thick¬ 
ness of only 1-100,000th of an inch, and one grain of the metal being capable 
of yielding four hundred feet of wire. It possesses a high degree of tenacity, 
a wire with a diameter of l-12th of an inch being able to support a weight of 
nearly one hundred and eighty-eight pounds. It requires a heat of 1873° 
Fahrenheit to fuse it, and on cooling, expands at the moment of solidifica¬ 
tion. It is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, and is not affected 
by exposure even to a moist atmosphere at any temperature. 

Silver, like gold, has been known and prized from the earliest ages. The 
silver mines of Mexico were, until quite recently, by far the richest known 
to exist. Their estimated annual yield is about 1,600,000 pounds troy of the 
pure metal. Until the remarkable discoveries of silver ore in Nevada and 



A SILVER MINE. 


adjoining States and Territories in 1859 and 1860, Chili and Peru had long 
stood next to Mexico in their yield, each furnishing about one-sixth of the 
produce of that country. Bolivia is also rich in silver; but the recent ex¬ 
traordinary development of silver mining in the Western regions of the 
United States, appears to have raised their produce to at least a par with 
that of Mexico, so that these two countries now furnish three-fourths of all 
the silver obtained in the world. Of European countries, Spain is the most 
productive, the richest mines being those of Hiendelaencina, in the province 
of G-uadalaxara, which were first extensively opened in 1846. These have 
yielded immense wealth, but their produce has much declined since 1858. 
Silver glance is the principal ore, although several others are found, in¬ 
cluding quantities of the formerly rare mineral freieslebenite, which contains 














366 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

about 23 per cent, of silver. Next to Spain, Austria, Saxony and the Harz 
district' in Northern Germany yield the largest supplies. The silver 
mines of Kongsberg, in Norway, are likewise valuable, and have been long 
famous. 

As previously stated, the great natural deposits of silver in the Rocky 
Mountain region were not discovered until the years 1859 and 1860. Pros¬ 
pectors and pioneers traversing Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, and 
other Territories in the far West in search of gold, by mere accident dis¬ 
covered the greatest silver mine ever known. The celebrated Comstock 
lode in Storey County, Nevada, twenty miles from Reno, on the Union 
Pacific Railroad, was found in 1859 by James Shinney and Henry Comstock. 
So little did these men understand the value of their discovery that they 
parted with their interest for a mere trifle. A company was formed, and 
work was commenced in 1861. By 1865 the mine had yielded to the 
value of $30,000,000, and Virginia City, with a population of 20,000, had 
sprung up in the locality, and was flourishing in a manner truly remarkable. 
In 1876 the mines of the Comstock lode yielded silver ore to the value of 
$36,500,000. Such an unparalleled result naturally produced a “ silver 
fever,” and extensive prospecting at once began in various parts of Colorado, 
Idaho and Montana. The mines of Leadville were not discovered until 
1877, but shortly after yielded $16,000,000 in a single year. 

The forms in which silver is found in nature are numerous, but we need 
only notice a few of them. It is frequently found native in crystallized and 
amorphous masses, which are sometimes of considerable size. But the 
quantity of silver found in nature in the metallic state is comparatively 
small. Its principal ores are the different sulphides or sulphurets—viz., 
silver glance, or sulphuret of silver, containing when pure, eighty-seven 
parts of silver and thirteen of sulphur; brittle silver ore, or sulphuret of 
silver and antimony, of which the composition is, silver 68*5, antimony 14*7, 
and sulphur 16'4; and red silver ore, called also ruby silver, of which there 
is a dark and a light kind, the composition of the former being similar to 
brittle silver ore, but it is a little less rich in silver, and the latter only 
differs in containing arsenic instead of antimony. The bulk of the silver ob¬ 
tained in Mexico and South America is got from these ores. The only other 
of much importance, except the mixed ores, is horn silver, or chloride of 
silver. In a pure state, it consists of silver seventy-five, and chlorine 
twenty-five. It occurs extensively in Mexico and Peru. Besides the ores 
named above, a good deal of the silver of commerce is obtained from mixed 
ores, that is, the ores of other metals are frequently found to contain it. 
In many cases, the amount of silver falls greatly short of one per cent. 
These ores are for the most part sulphurets of lead, arsenic, copper, zinc 
and iron. 

The reduction of silver ore is a heavy manufacturing business, requiring 
extensive and complicated machinery and appliances, and rather more than 
the usual proportion of skilled labor. Step with me, if you care to see an 
illustration, into a complete mill, and watch the ore turn, in due process, to 
bars of bullion. 

Outside is a small hill of ore, transported by wagon, at a cost of from 
four to six dollars a ton, from the mines ten miles distant. The ore is 
simply a hard quartz, infiltrated with various metals. Unless the ore is 
very rich you can seldom discover, even by the aid of a glass, any of the 
minute particles of silver. Some ore looks like gray limestone. The Pahr- 
anagat ore is almost prismatic, being spotted yellow by decomposed lead, 


MINING. 


367 


blue by copper, brownish red by iron, and dark lead color or black by sil- 
rer. The ore is carried in ox-hide baskets to the crushing-room, where it 
is weighed and registered. Then it is poured out in the stamp-room, where 
a man with a long-handled shovel feeds it under the stamps. 

The ten stamps are simply upright iron hammers, weighing six hundred 
and fifty pounds each. Their province is to crush the ore into a dust as fine 
as flour. The dust cannot escape from the stamps until it flies through 
sieves in powder so minute as to be almost impalpable to the touch. A ton 
of ore can be sufficiently crushed in two and one-third hours. 

The next step is to roast your fine powder (or pulp, as it is called) in 
order to burn up all the base metals in it except silver, gold and copper. 
The “roasters” are ordinary ovens, like those used for baking bread, ex¬ 
cept that the flues are admitted to the chamber where the pulverized ore is 
deposited. Workmen called “ roasters ” also stir the dust with long-handled 
shovels, keeping up a cherry red heat. Each of the five furnaces has a ca¬ 
pacity for half a ton of dust, and the time consumed in roasting the pulp is 
six hours. Your dust, when thoroughly roasted, contains nothing but gold, 
silver and copper in powdered quartz. The other metals have been effected 
by fire and large quantities of salt thrown in to chlorodize them. 

The roasted dust is raked out on the opposite side of the furnace and 
conveyed into the amalgamating pans, or large tubs filled with hot water, 
where it is further ground in a sort of iron fan-wheel, and where five pounds 
of quicksilver are thrown in for every pound of silver you estimate the ore 
to contain. The union made, the amalgam of the two metals sinks to the 
bottom of the tub, and the quartz powder runs off in a muddy rill from an 
orifice above. 

Next, the amalgam is taken from the bottom of the tubs and strained 
through canvas bags, in order to get rid of any superfluous quicksilver. The 
amalgam, after this straining, is five parts quicksilver, and one part silver. 
It looks and feels like a silvery sort of wet, white sand. The amalgam is 
now ready for the “ amalgamator,” the most important artisan about the 
mill, and the one who generally has charge of both mill and workmen. He 
places the amalgam in a face of his own, and builds a fire hot enough to 
send the quicksilver off in a vapor, leaving a residuum of silver. The flying 
vapor is condensed in water and returned to its original form of quicksilver, 
ready to be used again, having lost but one per cent, of its bulk. The silver 
left in the retort looks like rusty chips of ragged metal, and is anything but 
precious in appearance. 

The process of casting the silver bar (its usual weight is about eighty- 
five pounds) is simple enough. The silver chips are placed in a black lead 
mold, melted, and come out in a bar of silver, or rather, a bar about eight 
hundred parts silver and two hundred parts copper. Such is the bullion of 
commerce, and such a bar is worth from $1,200 to $1,300 in coin. The cop¬ 
per is taken out in the mints in such a manner as to save it. 

A good silver mill, with its branch buildings, covers two acres, and is 
crowded in all parts with machinery. The milling process, at best, does not 
save over eighty-five per cent, of the silver in the ore. The other fifteen per 
cent, is sensibly lost in the various stages of reduction. A ten-stamp mill 
burns twelve cords of wood per day, and consumes one thousand five hun¬ 
dred pounds of salt. Other supplies and labor run up its daily expense to 
$500. If it has $109 ore, its receipts are $100. But $100 ore is a high grade, 
and not very abundant in any mines in Nevada, so far as they have been 
penetrated by the piok. 


368 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Diamonds.—The most valuable of all precious stones with the excep¬ 
tion of the ruby, and the hardest of all known substances, is the diamond. 
It consists of carbon, a simple or elementary substance, crystallized, and in 
its greatest purity. Diamonds .are commonly colorless and as clear as 
water; although, sometimes from some slight foreign intermixture, they are 
white, gray, yellow, green, brown, and more rarely orange, red, blue or 
black. The lustre is adamantine and very high, and it becomes positively 
electric by friction. Its hardness renders it incapable of being scratched by 
any other substance, and in cutting and polishing diamonds diamond dust 
is employed. The estftnation in which it is held as a precious stone is due 
to its remarkable hardness, rarity and brilliancy. The art of cutting 
diamonds, although long practiced in India and China, was not known in 



DIAMOND MINING IN AFKICA. 


Europe till after the middle of the fifteenth century, when it was discovered 
by Louis van Berguen of Bruges. Previous to that time, diamonds were 
set without being cut, and in that state they have often a ruugh, dull and 
uneven surface. Diamonds are indeed found not only in the form of per¬ 
fect crystals, but also in rolled grains; and they are obtained partly from 
alluvial soils and the sands of rivers, and partly from rocks, chiefly a quartzy 
sandstone or conglomerate, in which they are often associated with gold. A 
number of localities in India have long been celebrated as productive of 
diamonds,, particularly Golconda; they are found also in Malacca, Borneo, 
and other parts of the East; nor were any diamonds procured in any other 
part of' the world till the beginning of the eighteenth century, when they 
were discovered in remarkable abundance in the district of Serra do Frio, in 
the province of Minas Geraes, in Brazil. Previous to that time, diamonds 












MINING. 


369 


found in Brazilian gold mines had been disregarded as mere pebbles; their 
nature became known in consequence of some of them accidentally finding 
their way to Europe. In 1829, they were discovered in the Ural Mountains. 
They have also been found in Rutherford County, North Carolina; in Hale 
County, Georgia; in the province of Constantine, Algeria; in Australia; and 
in South Africa. Diamond mines consist in general of mere diggings and 
washings of alluvial deposits. In Brazil, the method pursued is to rake the 
alluvial matter backwards and forwards on inclined planes, over which a 
stream of water is made to run, till the lighter particles are carried away, 
when large stones are picked out by the hand, and what remains is carefully 
examined for diamonds. The work is carried on by slaves, and when a 
diamond of seventeen carats is found, the slave who finds it is entitled to 
his liberty. Large diamonds are comparatively rare among those of Brazil, 
all the notable diamonds in the world being Indian. Brazil produces yearly 
from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand carats of diamonds, of which, 
however, not more than nine thousand carats are capable of being cut, the 
rest being either very small or of inferior quality. The small and inferior 
diamonds are called bort , and command a ready sale for their use in the 
arts, being pounded in a steel mortar, and much employed in the form of 
diamond-dust by lapidaries for cutting and polishing diamonds and all kinds 
of gems, and even for polishing rock-crystals for spectacles. Minute frag¬ 
ments or splinters of bort are also used for making fine drills, which are 
used for drilling small holes in rubies and other hard stones to be employed 
in watch-making, gold and silver wire-drawing, etc., and for piercing holes 
for rivets in china, in artificial enamel teeth, etc. The use of small diamonds 
by glaziers for cutting glass is well known. The diamonds so used are un¬ 
cut, and they are so mounted as to act upon the glass not by an angle, but 
by a curvilinear edge of the crystal. The cut is only to the depth of about 
one two-hundredth part of an inch, but is sufficient to make the glass readily 
break in accordance with it. 

Diamonds are cut into various forms, but principally into brilliants and 
rose diamonds. The brilliant cut is the most expensive and difficult, but is 
also that which best brings out the beauty of the stone; it has an upper or 
principal octagonal face, surrounded with many facets, and other things be¬ 
ing equal, the greater the number of facets the more valuable is the dia¬ 
mond. The lapidaries of the East, however, sometimes multiply facets to 
hide imperfections of the stone. Rose diamonds have a flat base, above 
which are two rows of triangular facets, the six uppermost uniting in a point. 
Rose diamonds are made of those stones which are too broad in proportion 
to their depth to be cut as brilliants. Stones still thinner are cut as table 
diamonds. The art of sawing diamonds, when too thick in proportion to 
their surface, was invented by a Dutchman named Dalbeck in the beginning 
of the nineteenth century. 

Coal. —The minerals of the carboniferous formation, at least those 
which occur in beds or strata, as coal and clay ironstone, are mined in a 
different way from metallic veins. Originally deposited in a horizontal po¬ 
sition, they have been so altered by movements in the earth’s crust, that 
they are rarely found so now. They are more generally found lying in a 
kind of basin or trough, with many minor undulations and dislocations. 
But however much twisted out of their original position, the. different seams, 
more or less, preserve their parallelism, a fact of great service to the miner, 
since beds of shale, or other minerals, of a known distance from a coal 


370 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



seam, are often exposed when the coal itself is not, and so indicate where it 
may be found. 

The great progress made of late years in the science of geology has made 
us so minutely acquainted with all the rock formations above and below the 
coal-measures, that it is now a comparatively easy matter to determine 
whether, in any given spot, coal may or may not be found. Nevertheless, 
large sums are still occasionally, as they have in past times been very fre¬ 
quently, wasted in the fruitless search for coal, where the character of the 
rocks indicates formations far removed from coal-bearing strata. 

When there are good grounds for supposing that coal is likely to be found 
in any particular locality, before a pit is sunk, the preliminary process of 
“ boring ” is resorted to, in order to determine whether it actually does 

exist there, and if in quantity sufficient to 
make the mining of it profitable. The usual 


COAL MINERS AT WORK. 


mode of “ winning ” or reaching the coal 
is to sink a perpendicular shaft, but 
sometimes a level or cross-cut mine, 
and at other times, an inclined plane, or 
“dook” is adopted. Before the intro¬ 
duction of pumping-engines, all coal-workings were drained by means of a 
level mine called a day-level , driven from the lowest available point on the 
surface, and no coal could be wrought at a lower depth than this, because 
there were no means of removing the water. 

When the shaft has been sunk to the necessary depth, a level passage, 
called the dip-head , or main-level , is first driven on each side, which acts as 
a roadway or passage, and, at the same time, as a drain to conduct the 
water, which accumulates in the workings, by means of a gutter on one side, 
to the lodgment at the bottom of the shaft. This level is the lowest limit of 
the workings in the direction of the dip, and from it the coal is worked out 
as far as is practicable along the rise of the strata. There are two principal 
methods of mining the coal. One is termed the “ post-and-stall ” or “ stoop- 
and-room ” system, and is used for thick seams; the other is called the 
“ long-wall ” system, and is adopted for seams under four feet in thickness. 


\S^ 












MINING. 


371 



The long-waU system consists in extracting the entire seam of coal at the 
first working, the overlying strata being supported by the waste rock from 
the roof of the workings. It is necessary, however, to leave large stoops at 
the bottom of the shaft for its support, as in the stoop-and-room method. 
In long-wall workings, roads of a proper height and width require to be made 
for communication with the different parts of the mine. 

The collier’s usual mode of extracting the coal from its bed is this: With 
a light pick, he undercuts the coal seam, technically termed “ holing,” for 
two or three 
feetinward, 
and then, 
by driving 
in wedges 
at the top 
of the seam, 
he breaks 
away the 
portion 
which has 
been holed. 

Blasting is 
occasional¬ 
ly, but not 
often re¬ 
sorted to. 

For the past 
ten years 
machines, 
some for 
“ holing” 

and others for both “holing” 
and hewing down coal-seams, 
have been more or less in use. 

They usually work with com¬ 
pressed air, but sometimes with 
steam or water. It is still pre¬ 
mature, however, to express any decided opin¬ 
ion as to their efficiency as compared with hand- 
labor. The coal, when separated from its bed, 
is put on tubs or hutches, which are generally 
drawn by horses, but sometimes by engine-power, along the 
roads to the bottom of the shaft, and hoisted to the surface. 

The proper ventilation of any mine, but especially of a 
coal-mine, is of very great importance. It clears the mine coal-cujbs. 
of the dangerous gases, fire-damp and foul damp, dries the 
subterranean roadways, and furnishes the miners with a supply of i>ure lur. 
It is very difficult to secure efficient ventilation through all the zigzag 
windings of a mine; hence the frequent and terrible explosions of fire¬ 
damp, or light carburetted hydrogen, which explodes when mixed with a 
certain proportion of atmospheric air; hence, also, the occasional accumula¬ 
tion of foul-damp (carbonic acid) in some pits, which suffocates any one 
breathing it. This deadly gas is always produced in large quantity by an 
explosion of fire-damp, and chokes many who hare survived the violence of 













372 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOW LED # E. 

the explosion. Many collieries are so free of fire-damp that the miners 
work with naked lights, but in others it is necessary to use the safety lamp. 

Copper.—Copper when pure is of a singularly red color, exceedingly 
malleable and ductile; it can be hammered when red-hot; it is not so hard 
as iron, but nearly as tenacious; and is remarkable for not corroding by ex¬ 
posure to the air; immense quantities of it are used in this country for cop- 

_ * pering the bottoms of 

ships, for coinage, 
and for a multitude 
of household uten- 
sils, etc., as well as 
for making brass. 

Copper appears to 
have been well known 
to the nations of an¬ 
tiquity, and often 
when brass is men¬ 
tioned in old books, 
coppei' must beunder- 
stood; as for example, 
the passage in Deu¬ 
teronomy, which de¬ 
scribes “ a laud whose 
stones are iron, and 
out of whose hills 
thou mayest dig 
brass.” Copper, both 
for working by itself 
and for the manufac¬ 
ture of brass, was 
early obtained from 
Egypt, one of the 
chief sources of the 
wealth of the Pha¬ 
raohs being the cop¬ 
per mines of the ad- 
j a c e n t countries of 
Nubia and Ethiopia; 
copper was known too 
in Greece, from the 
earliest settlement of 
the country. There 
is a curious collec¬ 
tion of Scandinavian 
antiquities at Copenhagen, in which are many swords, knives, and daggers, 
the blades of which are made of gold or copper, with an edge of iron; 
proving, by the parsimony with which the latter metal was used, how much 
more abundant were the other two. 

The mines which supply the copper of commerce are situated in almost 
all parts of the world, a large proportion of which are worked by English 
companies, and made tributary to the great smelting establishment in South 
Wales. Copper mines are worked on the range of the Andes, the Cordil- 



INTEEIOE OF A SHAFT. 








































































































































































MINING. 


373 


leras of Central America, and the Appalachians of North America, the geo¬ 
logical formations of these mountains being productive of copper ore. In 
the Eastern and Middle, Southern and Western States, copper mines exist, 
the most famous of which are those of Lake Superior. 

All that is visible on the surface of a copper mine is usually several 
buildings, more or less rude in structure, containing the engine, the 
steam-pump, etc., and a number of sheds where the copper ore is stowed 
as it is brought to the surface, and picked over by women and girls, who, 
with a little mallet knock off the unproductive pieces; leaving only such as 
will pay the expense of working it; all that they throw out is carried away 
in barrows, and added to the heap of refuse, which in time becomes one of 
the most conspicuous features of the mine, when seen from a distance. 
Another characteristic, too, is the mountain stream, which, instead of run¬ 
ning clear and pure as before it reaches the mine, flows on thick and black, 
or dingy gray, and so charged with metallic matter as to be anything but 
fertilizing in its progress. There is a curious copper mine in Cornwall, 
only a few miles from the Land’s End, which is called the Botallack Mine. 
Approaching it, you see the various buildings and machinery eonnected 
with the mine, not grouped together on the level ground or hillside, as 
is usual, but scattered up and down the precipitous face of the cliff, on all 
the available ledges of rock, where there would appear to inexperienced 
eyes to be only space enough for a gull’s nest, the sea breaking and roaring 
at the bottom. This mine, which is worked to a very great depth, is 
carried out several hundred yards from the shore, below the bottom of 
the sea; and as you traverse its narrow and dark passages, you may hear 
the low moaning of the ocean far above your head; when the weather is 
rough, and the sea runs high, this dim, mysterious sound is increased into 
a roar, fierce and awful beyond all imagination; and such is the horror of 
the miners, that, though so long accustomed to the spot, they seldom con¬ 
tinue working when a storm occurs, but find their way back to the upper 
air. The galleries of this mine are very damp, the salt water from above 
forcing its way through numerous crevices too minute to be seen, and drip¬ 
ping slowly on the floor. 

Sometimes, in small quantities, copper is found pure, and veins of cop¬ 
per are not unfrequently visible in cliffs laid bare by the sea. It is re¬ 
markable that, while there are hardly more than four of five different sorts 
of tin ores, and only one at all common, those of copper are almost innum¬ 
erable; in one collection, in Cornwall a thousand varieties are shown. One 
poor ore, the green carbonate of copper, is now become familiar to the 
world as the beautiful green stone called malachite ; which is used for orna¬ 
mental purposes. The richness of the ores varies very much, and conse¬ 
quently their value. A large quantity of the Cornish copper ore is con¬ 
veyed to South Wales to be smelted there, because of the abundant supply 
of fuel which the Welsh coal mines afford; the vessels which convey the 
copper ore, load back with coal to feed the mining steam engines. 

To obtain pure copper, the different ores are well mixed, this being de¬ 
sirable, as one ore often acts as a flux to others; the whole is then calcined, 
remaining twelve hours in the furnace, from which it is raked out black 
and powdery. The next process is smelting, during which the slags, 
or earthy parts, rise to the surface and are cleared off, the metal being 
run out into pits filled with water, which causes it to become granulated. 
These two processes are repeated twice more, and then the metal is 
roasted again; which oxidizes the iron and other metals still combined 


374 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


■with the copper. Nothing now remains to be done but refining and toughen¬ 
ing; the latter is a curious process; the metal in the furnace is covered with 
charcoal, and a pole of birch wood is stirred in it, this causes ebullition, 
and the grain gradually becomes finer, the color a lighter red, and the 
metal more malleable. 


Salt.—Salt in its popular sense is a crystalline mineral substance, white 
and sparkling, with a sharp pungent taste; and is used to cure and season 



ENTBANCE TO THE MINE. 


many arti- 
c1e s of 
food. Com¬ 
mon salt is 

not altered in its composi¬ 
tion by heating it to a red 
heat; it is not soluble in 
spirit; and, which is remark¬ 
able, hot water scarcely dissolves a larger portion than cold; crystals of salt, 
therefore, cannot be obtained by cooling a solution of it, but by evaporation. 
The natural form of the crystals of salt is a cube, but when formed at 
a high temperature they are deposited much more rapidly, and are hollow 
pyramids. 

Salt being one of the necessaries of life, we find it by the kind care of 
Providence stored up in every land; every nation has access to it either in 
the form of salt springs or mines, or can obtain it from the sea. The«e 










MINING. 


375 


sources form “ the inexhaustible storehouses of our household salt—all that 
we employ in our fisheries, in our meat-curing establishments, m our agri¬ 
culture, in our soda manufactories—all that fuses our glass, and fertilizes 
our fields, imparts the detergent quality to our soap, and gives us salt her¬ 
rings and salt pork; and every thing else salt that is the better for being so, 
down to our dinner celery and our breakfast eggs.” 

In preparing salt from the brine springs, the brine is pumped by steam 
power into reservoirs in which are placed pieces of rock salt, that no fuel 
may be wasted by evapo¬ 
rating an unsaturated so¬ 
lution; from these reser¬ 
voirs it is drawn off as 
wanted into evaporating 
pans; these are made of 
wrought iron; they are 
shallow and oblong, and 
contain from six hundred 
to one thousand superfi¬ 
cial feet; there are three 
or four fires in each pan. 

The various kinds ol salt 
are producod by the dif¬ 
ferent degrees of tempera¬ 
ture at which the water is 
evaporated and the crys¬ 
tals formed; the less heat 
is applied the larger the 
crystals are. The time oc¬ 
cupied varies from twelve 
hours employed in mak¬ 
ing stove-salt to five or 
six days needful to 
make large-grained or 
fishery salt; wjien the 
crystals are formed at the 
bottom of the pan they 
are raked out and heaped 
up in conical baskets to 
drain. 

Besides the rock salt 
found in England, salt 
mines have been discov¬ 
ered in Austria, Hungary, 

Russia, the Tyrol, Sweden, 
and many other parts of _. .. . . 

Europe; the principal of these are the mines of Bocknia and Wieliczka, be¬ 
longing to the Austrian government. They were originally worked in t e 
year 1250, and were carried on in a very rude manner for five hundre 



PASSAGE TO THE MINE. 


The mine of Wieliczka measures with all its galleries thirty English 
miles, its greatest depth is one Hundred and forty-five fathoms; it is divided 
into three distinct compartments, called fields; each of these consists of five 
stories one below the other, and each story is made up of numerous cham- 






376 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

bers, cells and caverns, connected by passages; the descent is made by 
staircases and shafts; the staircases are carved in rock salt, and are some of 
them very magnificent, no dirt or disorder is visible anywhere; and as there 
are no springs of water at so great a depth, the air is quite dry, and every¬ 
thing is kept in the most perfect state of preservation, there is a strong cur¬ 
rent of fresh air through the passages, and noxious gases are never met 
with in salt mines. 

Many of the excavated chambers in this mine are one hundred or one 

hundred and fifty 
feet high, and 
eighty or one 
hundred feet 
long and wide; 
some are used as 
storehouses, and 
others as 
chapels, ball- 
rooms and din¬ 
ing-halls on oc¬ 
casions of festiv¬ 
ity. In the chap¬ 
els every thing 
is carved out of 
rock salt; altars, 
walls, ceilings, 
doors, crucifixes, 
niches, pedestals and stat¬ 
ues upon them; all solid, 
and yet so translucent that 
a torch held behind one of 
the statues shows light through 
its thickest part; and all spark¬ 
ling and glittering as with 
countless diamonds. 

These halls are left in the 
process of excavation, and 
where any addition is required 
it is built with salt and water; 
in this manner, masses of salt 
are piled one upon another, 
and water is thrown over them, 
which dissolves a portion of 
the salt; the crevices are thus 
filled up, the water evaporates 
and leaves the whole a solid 
mass; columns of salt are always left to support the roof. In some mines 
the chambers after excavation are flooded with fresh water, which, after 
remaining several months to get saturated, is drawn off and evaporated in 
the usual manner. In other places, where weak brine springs occur, the 
solution is allowed to drip over compact bundles of fagots, or to trickle 
down ropes; by which means it is much exposed to the air, and part of the 
water is economically evaporated before boiling commences. When sea 
water is used for making salt it is always exposed to the sun in shallow 
















MINING. 


W 


ponds UDtil the quantity is very much reduced. In Russia, Persia, Abys¬ 
sinia, and many other countries, salt deserts occur; tracts of land where 
salt is so abundant, both on the surface and beneath it, that it can be ob¬ 
tained with little more trouble than collecting it; these tracts are quite 
barren, and after a shower are covered with a white incrustation of salt re¬ 
sembling a fall of snow. At Cardona, in Spain, the rock salt appears on the 
surface, and even forms a precipice four or five hundred feet high, over¬ 
looking the valley; this is quarried as any ordinary rock might be, and the 
salt is so pure as to need only grinding to fit it for use. 

A lady writer gives the following entertaining description of a visit to an 
Austrian salt mine: 

“ We started at nine o’clock one morning in August to visit the wonder¬ 
ful salt mines at Berchtesgaden, about twelve miles from Salzburg, on the 
Tyrol-Austria. A regular business is made by the government of exhibiting 
this mine, so we experienced no delay in getting tickets of admission, a 
guide and change of dress. We were provided with coarse dresses, the 
ladies removing part of their garments, and putting on pantaloons, with a 
dress or sort of coat, extending to the knees, a funny-looking woolen cap 
with white bands for head, a belt around the waist, with miner’s lamp hung 
on in front, altogether forming an odd costume. The gentlemen were 
changed into miners (in appearance), with rough felt hats, and rougher 
coats. 

“We employed a guide, and followed him, first passing through a door¬ 
way into long narrow passages, about ten feet high and six feet wide, for a 
distance of five hundred feet. These passages were splendidly -walled with 
granite. When the granite walls ceased, the same passage continued 
through crystal salt, which is so solid as to need no walling. We passed up 
one hundred and twenty-six granite steps and down others. Pipes were on 
each side of the passage, one for salt water, and one fresh. We traveled on 
tor some time, passing various passages branching off from the one we were 
on. Suddenly we were startled by the scene presented. I hardly know how 
to describe it. Imagine a salt lake in the center of the mountain, three hun¬ 
dred feet long, two hundred wide, brilliantly illuminated by over two 
hundred lamps. The ceiling was of solid rock salt, twenty feet above, and 
had no supports, and needed none, although some thousand feet of moun¬ 
tain “ clothed with pines ” was over our heads. A boat was moored to the 
shore of the lake, and in this we took seats, and were soon rowed to the 
opposite side of the lake, landed on a platform, and shown the manner in 
which the fresh water drips through masses of crystal salt. 

“ Passing on, we came to a long flight of steps, a place where it was nec¬ 
essary to avoid the weariness and time caused by descending the stairs by 
sitting on a board at the side of the stairs, and slide! First, the guide took 
a seat, then we followed singly, with our hands on the shoulders of our 
companion in front of us, in the same way as boys coast down hill. Our 
guide regulated our speed by a guide-rope, which he allowed to pass rapidly 
through his heavily-gloved hand. We slid down a distance of eighty leet, 
at an angle of forty-five degrees. It was a frightfully rapid journey, but 
thanks to the skill of the miner, he landed us on our feet at the bottom 
with scarcely a perceptible jar. 

“Soon we came to a huge cave, a gallery surrounding it hewn out of 
rock, and provided with a railing. Looking down, it was one hundred feet 
deep, and about as many wide, feebly lighted by miners’ lamps, the miners 
being busy at work. Again we came to a point where another sliding board 


378 CYCLOPEDIA OF VSEFTTL KNOWLEDGE. 

was erected, down which we slid the hundred feet intervening between us 
and the bottom of the cave. The bottom was reached as safely as before. 
We reascended to another part by means oi an inclined plane used for haul¬ 
ing the rock salt out of the cave, then our guide led us through a long pas¬ 
sage hewn out of rock salt until we came to a small illuminated chamber. 
After admiring the novelty of the scene, we were invited to sit astride a long 
bench, with wheels fitting into a rail-track. The guide sat in the front end 
of the bench, having control of the brakes. We dashed along, turning curves 
at railroad speed; our lamps were extinguished by the rapid speed, and 
when we at last could perceive, a long way ahead of us, a glimmer of day¬ 
light, the sensation was pleasing. On we sped, until suddenly we flew out 
into the open air, and landed safely at the point from which we started, and 
found a crowd of visitors, arrayed in miner’s garb ready to enter.” 

Lead.—Lead was largely worked by the Romans in Great Britain, and 
pigs with Latin inscriptions have been frequently found near old smelting 
works. The mining of lead in England was formerly regulated by curious 
laws; some places, such as the King’s Field, in Derbyshire, having special 
privileges. It was the custom in this district not to allow the ore to leave 
the mine till it was measured in the presence of an official called a bar-master , 
who set aside a twenty-fifth part as the king’s cope or lot. Up to a compara¬ 
tively recent period, persons were allowed to search for veins of the ore 
without being liable for any damage done to the soil or crops. 

Lead ore is pretty generally distributed, but by far the largest supply of 
this metal is obtained from Great Britain and Spain, the former country 
yielding some seventy-five thousand tons per annum, and the latter prob¬ 
ably an equal supply. Nearly a fourth of the total British produce is pro¬ 
cured from the Northumberland and Durham district, where there exists, at 
Allenheads, one of the largest mining establishments in the world. Scotland 
and Ireland furnish only a very small quantity. In the region of Lake Su¬ 
perior, in the States of Michigan and Wisconsin, are extensive and valuable 
lead mines. 

With the exception of a little from the carbonate of lead, all the supplies 
of this metal are obtained from the sulphide of lead or Galena. This min¬ 
eral contains a little silver, and sometimes copper, zinc, antimony, or selen¬ 
ium. It is of a lead gray color, with a metallic lustre, is found massive, or 
sometimes granular, or crystallized in cubes or octahedrons. It is very 
easily broken, and its fragments are cubical. It occurs in veins, beds, and 
imbedded masses, often accompanying other metallic ores, in primitive and 
secondary rocks, but most of all in what is known as transition or mountain 
limestone. 

The lead ore, when taken from the mine, is broken up into small pieces, 
“botched,” and washed, to separate impurities. Sulphide of lead, when 
tolerably pure, is smelted with comparative ease. It is first roasted in a 
reverberatory furnace. From twenty to forty hundredweight of galena are 
put into the furnace at a time, either with or without lime. In about two 
hours the charge becomes sufficiently roasted. During the process, the 
larger portion of the ore takes up four equivalents of oxygen, and becomes 
sulphate of lead; a little oxide of lead is also formed, while another portion re¬ 
mains unaltered as sulphide of lead. After it is roasted the ore is thoroughly 
mixed together, and the heat of the furnace suddenly raised. This causes 
a reaction between the unchanged and the oxidized portion of the ore, and 
reduces much of the lead, sulphureous acid being at the same time evolved. 


MINING. 


879 


In the third stage, lime is thrown in and mixed with slag and unreduced 
ore. When this becomes acted on, the whole of the lead is practically sepa¬ 
rated from the ore. and is then run off at the tap-hole. 

In some districts the roasted ore is smelted on a separate ore-hearth 
called the Scotch furnace, where the heat is urged by bellows. Peat and 
coal are used as the fuel. This is a slower mode of smelting than the last, 
but yields a purer lead. 

During the operation of smelting a considerable quantity of lead is vola¬ 
tilized and carried off a a fume or smoke , which, when allowed to escape into 
the atmosphere, not only involves a loss of lead, but destroys all vegetation 
for some distance around the works, and poisons cattle and other animals 
feeding near them. Much attention has of late been paid to the obviating of 
these evils, and several plans are in use for the purpose. Where it can be 
done, no method is more effective than simply conducting the smoke from 
the furnaces through a long horizontal flue—say a mile in length—to a ver¬ 
tical stack. The fume condenses on the sides, certain openings being left 
for the purpose of collecting it. About thirty-three per cent, of the fume 
thus recovered consists of metallic lead. 

When lead contains antimony and tin as impurities, they are separated 
by fusing the metal in shallow pans, and allowing it to oxidize at the sur¬ 
face. In this way the antimony and tin form oxides, and as such are 
skimmed off. Lead reduced from galena always contains a little silver, of 
which eight or ten ounces to the ton is a very common proportion, although 
it often exists in much larger quantity. 


Tin.—Tin is a white metal, bright and silvery; it is elastic, and conse¬ 
quently sonorous; ductile, very light, and it fuses at a much lower tempera¬ 
ture than is necessary to heat it red hot. 

Tin is found in America, England, and some parts of Germany; but the 
largest supply comes from the Malay peninsula and the adjacent islands; 
this is called Banca tin from the place of its export. . 

The tin mines of England early attracted more civilized nations to their 
shores; the Phoenicians traded there for tin six hundred years before Christ, 
and are said to have first given a name to Cornwall, in which county the tin 
mines of England are chiefly situated, calling it from its form and projecting 
position by a Phocenician word, which signified a horn , from which appella¬ 
tion are derived both the Latin Cornubia and the English Cornwall. The 
Greek colonists at Marseilles, and the Eomans, came also to England for 
tin and these last gave the name of Cassiterides, or Tin Islands, to the 
Scilly Isles, or perhaps to St. Michael’s Mount, and some adjacent rocks, 
where, as Diodorus Siculus relates, the natives carried their tin in little carts 
at low water, to barter with their more civilized visitors for the much cov¬ 
eted produce of southern climes. 

The ancient mines were probably stream-works open to the surface, 
where the metal is exposed by washing. Pickaxes of holm, boxwood, am 
even of horns of different animals, have often been found in these kinds of 
works; the rude instruments of a people little rem ^f d ,^ 

During the time of the Normans great wealth accrued to the Earls of Corn¬ 
wall from dues and imposts on tin payable to them, and these still continue 
to be paid to the Dukes of Cornwall, the blocks of tin being coined or stamped 
with the seal of the duchy after the dues have been paid. 

Tin is found in veins or fissures called locally lodes —their direction is 

mainly from east to west, and they branch out and divide like the boughs 


380 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


of a tree, diminishing till they terminate in mere threads. Tin is also found 
in a dispersed form in loose stones, which, when found continuously, are 
called streams. The most common tin ore is very hard and glass-like. 

Tin mining is carried on with great activity, and often at a great expense, 
which arises from the galleries having to be supported with large timber. 
The most remarkable mine in England is one which has long been aban¬ 
doned on account of its danger; this, the Huelcok, is carried under the bed 
of the ocean below low-water mark; and, in one place, where the rich vein 
ran upward, the improvident miners pursued it till only four feet of rock 
were left between the mine and the bed of the sea, which could be distinctly 
heard howling and roaring, the rolling of the masses of rock moved by the 
waves sounding like repeated peals of thunder. Another mine, called the 
Huel Ferry, is entirely submarine. 

Zinc. —Zinc is a metal which has been comparatively lately discovered 
in its pure form, though one of its ores, calamine stone, has long been known 
and used. It abounds in China, and the Chinese were the first to use it; 
they also exported it in large quantities to India, whence much was imported 
to England, until it was discovered that they possessed ores of it themselves, 
The largest proportion of zinc, or spelter, as it is frequently called in its 
metallic form, is obtained from the German states, who not merely supply 
the home markets, but have superseded the Chinese in the trade in India. 
Zinc is a hard, bluish-white metal, not malleable when cold, breaking read¬ 
ily under the hammer, and showing particularly brilliant crystalline frac¬ 
ture; but at a moderately high temperature it possesses great malleability 
and ductility, can easily be drawn into wire and rolled into plates, and 
worked in other ways. Zinc is well suited for casting figures; it melts read¬ 
ily, liquefies completely, and therefore copies every line of the mold more 
accurately than harder metals. A cast can be made in zinc for one-sixth or 
one-eighth the cost of bronze, and can afterward be bronzed so as to look 
almost as well as that metal. Zinc plates are used for many purposes, and 
in roofing they are valuable for their lightness, being about one-sixth part 
the weight of lead ones; they are not liable to rust or corrode from exposure 
to the air; many vessels are now made of zinc, and for galvanic apparatus 
this metal is used. 

Quicksilver.—The metal used in barometers and thermometers to 
show the changes in the atmosphere, is called Quicksilver or Mercury. It 
is white, rather bluer than silver, and as it is from its great fusibility habitu¬ 
ally fluid, it readily unites with many other metals and imparts to them a 
degree of its characteristic quality; when these metallic mixtures contain 
sufficient mercury to render them semifluid at a mean temperature they are 
called amalgams. Mercury is likewise employed for silvering looking- 
glasses and for gilding, in which latter process the gold and mercury are laid 
on together in the form of an amalgam, and the mercury afterward dissi¬ 
pated by the action of heat. It is also employed in the preparation of sev¬ 
eral powerful medicines, and in the manufacture of vermilion. But by far 
the largest quantity of mercury is used for amalgamation with native gold 
and silver to facilitate the extraction of the pure metal. The chief mines of 
mercury, or quicksilver, are in Spain, in the provinces of Asturias and An¬ 
dalusia; there are mines, too, at Idria, in Carniola, which are very produc¬ 
tive, and others in Tuscany and California. Mercury is found both native 
and mixed with sulphur, in which state it forms the red ore called cinnabar. 


WONDERS OF THE SEA. 


Sea Anemones.— Brilliant as the hues of the rainbow, and as varied 
in color a group of anemones in their native element might be compared to 
a basket of freshly gathered flowers. In examining the delicate fringes, as 
they wave gracefully in the water, one can almost imagine a fragrance aris¬ 
ing from blooms so perfect. Ancients thought they were flowers. Poets 
sang of the “ Roses of the Sea; ” and in reading their lines of mystery, one 

cannot but exclaim: 

“Oh, ye delicious fables! When the wave 
And wood were peopled, and the air, with things 
So lovely, why, ah, why has science grave 
Scattered your great imaginings ? ” 

Believing them to be flowers, I was once examining some beautiful 
orange-colored specimens, fully expanded. While watching the graceful 
waving of the tentacles, a shrimp was suddenly grasped by them, held, and 
literally “ tucked in” the opening of the anemone. 

Calling in dismay a scientific friend, I learned that the beautiful object 
was an animal, that boasted of a ravenous appetite and strong digestive 
organs; but yet, though obliged to accept the disagreeable fact that all 
things beautiful are not what they seem,” I must confess that my interest 

increased rather than diminished. , „ ,, . 

The anemone is a polyp—which word means many-footed. Its anat¬ 
omy is most peculiar. It is formed of two tubes, or sacks, one within the 
other, and has the appearance of having been originally one long tube, the 
end of which has been turned in, leaving a round margin, crowned with 
many rows of tentacles, which make a thick, soft fringe. 

The inner tube, with an opening at the bottom, is the stomach, and the 
outer tube, with closed, flat base, is the body. There are vertical parti¬ 
tions between the stomach and body, which divide the space mto chambers 
and openings in these partitions, through which, in connection with tne 
opening in the stomach, currents of water circulate. 

The mouth is the large opening at the top, and into it is taken an in¬ 
credible quantity of food. The shrimp is the favorite morsel, but worms 
and small mollusks are by no moans ignored; the latter are swallowed 

whole, the shell after a time being ejected. 

Each one of the tentacles, which are so graceful and appear so harmless, 
is provided with a number of coiled-up threads, called lasso-cells so minute 
that they can be seen only with a microscope, and which, when thrown out, 

both poison and entangle the prey. . 

The flesh of collectors of marine animals is often badly poisoned by 
them. When food is secured, it is grasped by the tentacles and passed into 
the stomach, though many a dainty morsel is snatched away by a neighbor¬ 
ing marauder. When food is taken the anemone withdraws its tentacles, 
folds up, and while digestion is going on, appears to sleep. After a time it 
expands slowly, by filling with water, which is taken in chiefly at the mouth. 



382 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Yet, though haying bo ferocious an appetite when food can be obtained, 
the anemone is so constituted as to exist months without nourishment. 
Naturalists reason that this is a compensation of nature when animals are 
unable to go in search of food. 

This creature, though so beautiful in structure, has no intelligence and 
but little instinct. It does not seem to be even conscious of prey until the 
prey actually comes in contact with the tentacles. These are Sensitive 
when touched, however, and shrink up quickly into a solid round mass. 

The large tanks at thfl New York 
Ilr Aquarium were connected, and one 
of the naturalists who is considered 
§ good authority told me that when 
feeding animals in a tank near the 
g£ anemones, they became agitated, 
g and fully expanded the tentacles. 
— This would prove that 
there is a slight sense 
or smell, or 
^ some in- 
HIU stinct 


yet 

Q edged. 

_ Almost 

m - - incredibleis 

the fact that 
the anem¬ 
ones are re¬ 
produced in 
four ways. 

The first 
and most 
reasonab 1 e 
is by eggs, 
which are 
formed and 
developed 
upon the 
M walls of the partitions. When 
mature they drop down, and 
entering the digestive cavity, 
are ejected from the mouth 
into the water with refuse 
food. 

The stomach is wonderfully 
accommodating, and fulfills a 
multitude of functions, re¬ 
ceiving, swallowing and rejecting, a continual rejecting seeming a normal 
condition. 

They increase, also, by budding like trees and shrubs. A slight swell¬ 
ing arises on the side of the body, or at the base, then gradually enlarges, 
becomes perfect in form, and drops off. Several have been seen on one pa¬ 
rent. 

They also multiply by self-division, or by being cut into particles with a 



TROPICAL ANEMONE. 



















































WONDERS OF THE SEA. 


38 * 


knife. I have often severed them vertically also, horizontally, and each sec¬ 
tion has become a perfect anemone. The fourth and strangest reproduction 
is when detached particles become perfect specimens. 

The anemone attaches itself to foreign substances by the flat base, and a 
parent in loosening its hold will often tear away and leave little particles; 
each of these will very soon 
assume life and form, and 
move off unconcernedly ini 
search of new T 
quarters. Young 
anemones have at 
first but one row 
of tentacles, but 
they increase 
gradually outside. 

Anemones often 
assume an hour¬ 
glass-shape, and 
freak in form, hav¬ 
ing double discs 
and double bodies. 

There is no dis¬ 
tinction in sex, 
each animal being 
perfection in itself. 

Though seem¬ 
ing at most times 
s tation ary, the 
anemones are able 
to move them¬ 
selves slowly by a 
successive con¬ 
traction and loos¬ 
ening of the base, 
thus stretching 
forward one side 
and gradually 
drawing along the 

other. They vary greatly in size, dif¬ 
fering from one-eighth of an inch to 
one foot in diameter; they are com¬ 
monly, however, from half an inch to 
three inches. 

Small or medium-sized anemones 
should be chosen for stocking a tank, 
as they absorb a great deal of sub¬ 
stance and are very prolific. In large 



FRINGED ANEMONE. 


public tanks, an excess often has to be 

removed. When needed for dissecting purposes, drop in cold fresh water 
to kill. 

These animals are hardy and long-lived, and accounts are given us 
where people have kept them five, ten and fifteen years. I know of a pieoe 
of rock covered with anemones being taken from the water at Wood’s Hole, 














































3 81 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Mass., during the summer. It was left to dry on the beach for twenty-four 
hours as an experiment, then returned to the water, and each animal as¬ 
sumed life and perfect form. 

In our climate, as winter approaches, the anemones loosen their hold and 
sink into deeper and warmer water. There is a European anemone which 
attaches itself to the shell of one variety of hermit crab, and is carried 
about gallantly. It is an established fact, also, that the hermit when taking 
up abode in a new shell loosens the anemone from the old one and carries 
it and places it on the new. 

It would be a difficult matter to decide which of the anemones, either in 
form or color, are most beautiful. Those from the tropics are most bril¬ 
liant, and look like flowers from dreamland. Stems of shaded orange are 
crowned with tentacles of gray, tipped with crimson; light pink standards 
bear fringes of white, and a base of v6lvet-like crimson often supports 
streamers of pink, white and gray. 

Some anemones erect themselves to the height of four and six inches, 
and have the finest and daintiest of fringe. The “ crassicornis ” is shorter 
and wider mouthed, and has thick, short tentacles. The white armed 
anemone is more slender, and is so transparent that all organs are discerni¬ 
ble. 

There is a beautiful maroon anemone with green spots, found in English 
waters, with medium-fine tentacles, and crassicornis varieties less brilliant 
than our own. I recently saw a variety of German anemones (the first ever 
exhibited in this country), and in beauty of form and variety of color, they 
excelled anything I have ever seen. They were attached to the fat, round, 
German oysters, and fully expanded. The fringes were beautifully deli¬ 
cate, and the shades, of clear orange, cream, velvety-gray and pure white, 
could not be equalled by the dyes of our choicest silk velvets .—Ida Batty 
Roberts. 

The Diver.—The first sensation in descending under water in a suit of 
armor is the sudden, bursting roar in the ears, caused by the air driven 
into the helmet from the air-pump. The flexible air-hose has to be strong 
enough to bear the pressure of twenty-five to fifty pounds to the square 
inch. The drum of the ear yields to the strong external pressure, the 
mouth opens involuntarily, the air rushes into the tube, and strikes the 
drum, which strikes back to its normal state with a sharp, pistol-like crack. 
Peering through the goggle eyes of glass in his helmet, the diver sees the 
strange beauties about him clearly and in their own calm splendor. Above 
him is a pure golden canopy, while around him and beside him are tints 
and shimmering hues, including all colors, which are indescribably elegant. 
The floor of the sea rises like a golden carpet, inclining gently to the sur¬ 
face. The change in familiar objects is wonderful. The wreck of a ship 
seems studded with emeralds, glittering in lines of gold; piles of brick as¬ 
sume the appearance of crystals; a ladder becomes silver, every shadow 
gives the impression of a bottomless depth. 

The following interesting information is given in a diver’s own words: “ I 
remember years ago going down to have a look at the wreck of the Forfar¬ 
shire. I dived just out of curiosity, and saw the old hooker plain enough. 
Off that same coast I’ve been down in water so bright that I’ve stood among 
the weeds as tall as this room, a beautiful garden of them, and watched ’em 
with delight, almost to forgetting the job I was down there for, and I saw all 
kinds of fish swimming about and appearing quite close through the glass 


WONDERS OF THE SEA . 


385 


in my helmet, though if I put out my hand to them I found them to be 
fathoms away. As a rule I can’t see—no more than if I waft looking through 
a London fog. And then take a ship. Suppose you were to come into this 
room at night without a light—you couldn’t see. So it is with a ship’s hold 
and cabin under water. It’s pitch dark. A man can only grope. But it is 
not dangerous when you’re used to it. A bit of a sea above is often incon¬ 
venient by making the vessel on the surface roll and tauten the tackle for 
heaving up the cargo, and so running up a mass of dead weight on a sudden 
before you’re ready, and then letting it come down crash again. A ground 
swell—I mean the swell at the bottom—is also troublesome, for it’ll swing a 
man to and fro a 
distance of seven 
feet and more. 

But this is only 
on deck. It’s 
quiet enough in 
the hold. Even 
should such a 
swell dash a 
diver against 
anything, how¬ 
ever, it wouldn’t 
hurt him. The 
dress makes him 
so light. I have 

fallen through many a yawn in the ship’s decks, 
fit to break a man’s neck and back, you might 
think for the depth of it, and have came up 
again jU3t as quietly. Very few know how to 
converse under water. If you were to stand up 
face to face with another man each might burst 
himself with yelling without producing the 
faintest sound. The way we hear is by lying 
down. You and your mate must lie down on 
your breasts—head to head or side by side, 
close, and in that position you’ll hear one an¬ 
other as easily as two persons in a room. When 
I found this out I spoke to another diver about 
it, and he would not believe me. Well, one 
day we happened to go down to a wreck to¬ 
gether. I told him beforehand what position 
to put himself in, and after we had been to diver. 

work some time we came together and lay 

down as agreed, and I said: * Jim, are there many more casks left in the 
hold ? ’ * Heaps,’ he answered right off. £ And so you can hear me ? * 

said I. ‘ Aye,’ he answered, ‘ wonderfully plain,’ and with that he 
laughed, and so did I, and we both heard each other’s laugh just as we 
heard each other’s words. We were in about eleven fathoms of water at 
the time.” 



The Corals of the Indian Ocean.— Of all the wonderful sights in 
this land of wonders, there are none greater than the wonders of the reef 
when the tide is low. The ideas about coral which people have who have 

































386 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


never seen it in its living state are generally erroneous. They know it as a 
beautifully white ornament under a glass shade, or in delicate pink branches 
in their jewelry, and they imagine living coral is like these. Their ideas 
are helped along by the common misnomer of trees and branches, as ap¬ 
plied to coral. I have never seen it in the South Sea Islands, but 
throughout the Eastern seas the most common variety takes a laminated 
form, not unlike the large fungi to be met with any summer’s day in an 
English wood growing out of the older trees. Flat, circular tables of dingy 
brown, growing over one another, with spaces under each. These attain a 
great size, extending for yards without a break, so that the bottom of the 
sea is perfectly level. This kind is much sought after by the lime-burners. 
Another species grows in detached bosses, like thick-stemmed plants which 
the gardener has trimmed round the top. These clumps grow out of the 
sand and stand up in dull brown against the white flooring. A third pat¬ 
tern is spiked like stags’ horns tangled together, and is ©+ a dingier brown 
than the first; its spikes collect the' drifting weeds, and its appearance is 
consequently untidy. There are scores of varieties of corals and madre¬ 
pores, but the three mentioned are those which principally make up the 
mass which is ever growing uuder the still waters inside the reef. At 
Maheburg the reef is distant seven miles from the shore, and the whole of 
this great lagoon is in process of filling up by coral. There are one or two 
holes, left capriciously, and a channel which the river has cut to the reef, 
which it pierces in what is locally called “ a pass.” Everywhere else the 
bottom is only a few feet under water, and is always slowly rising. The 
various corals, the patches of silver sand, the deep winding channel, lend 
each a tint to the water—sapphire blue, where it is deepest, sea-green with 
emerald flecks, or cerulean blue shot with opaline tints, in the shallows. 
The reef is a solid wall, shelving toward the shore, absolutely perpendicu¬ 
lar toward the ocean, and varies in width from twenty to one hundred 
yards. Against the outer face the rollers rage incessantly. Swell follows 
swell smoothly and regularly. There is no hurry, for here there is no 
shelving bottom to keep them back. On they come, separating their ink- 
blue masses from the tumble of the ocean, rearing aloft their crests, like 
live things anxious to try their strength, and fall with a roar on its edge as 
it stands up to meet them. You can stand within a few feet of the practi¬ 
cally bottomless sea and watch them tumble, with the water no further 
than your knees, as the surge of their onward rush carries across the reef. 
To stand so and watch them coming on appears, to one unused to the sight, 
to court destruction, the wave is so vast, its crest rising higher as it ad¬ 
vances, shuts out the sea beyond, nothing can be seen but a wall of water 
rolling on; its strength is apparently so irresistible, and the pause it appears 
to take as the top curls over seems to check your breath. The rocks and 
lumps of dead coral with which storms have strewed the reef are high arid 
dry; the pools of limpid water in the holes sink down and drain away, their 
surface glassy, and their depths full of color and strange-shaped living 
things; then the roller breaks and sends a surge of water hissing by, and 
the reef has sunk beneath the foam and bubbling water. 

Coral Fisliingf —Coral fisheries on the coasts of Italy and Sicily begin 
about the middle of February, and continue till the middle of October. The 
value of the coral varies according to its color and size; the pale pink is the 
most prized, especially if it be of a uniform color throughout, without 
stains. Off Torre del Greco, near Naples, a large quantity of coral is found 


WONDERS OF THE SEA . 


387 


every year; from four hundred to six hundred boats are sent out in search 
of it, each boat being of from six to ten tons’ burden, with a crew of at least 
twelve men, and costing from $2,500 to $3,000 a boat. The valuable pink 
coral is found chiefly off the coast of Sicily. In the year 1873 a bed was 
discovered in the Straits of Messina, in which the coral, though found only 
in small quantities and of a small size, was of immense value, owing to its 
beautiful pink, of a uniform color, and without any of those stains which 
detract so much from its worth. Unfortunately, the supply of coral in this 
bed seems to have run short, and for the last few years coral merchants 
have not found it worth their while to send boats in search of it. 

In 1875 a local bed was discovered about twenty miles off the coast of 
Sciacca, in Sicily, which was invaded for the next two years by seven hun¬ 
dred boats. This number, all crowded together in one spot, caused great 



SHELLS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN. 


confusion, and the Italian Government sent a man-of-war to keep order 
among the fishermen. Another similar bed was discovered in 1878, about 
ten miles farther from the coast, and in 1880 yet another still farther. The 
coral found off the coast of Sciacca does not grow, as at other places, at¬ 
tached to rocks, but is found clinging to any small object it can lay hold of, 
such as a shell or a fragment of coral. It is supposed that its dark red or 
black color is caused by the muddiness of the water in which ii lives, al¬ 
though the depth of the sea at such spots is from three hundred to four 
hundred and fifty feet. This coral is not much esteemed in the English 
market, but is prepared in large quantities for the Indian market at Cal¬ 
cutta, by being exposed for months to the heat of the sun, and by being 
kept moist, when in time the black color gradually disappears. A few years 
ago a large quantity of Japanese coral found its way into the market at 
Naples, and fetched as much as $750 the kilo, in raw branches, in spite of 
its being a bad color and somewhat cloudy. This high price was given on 
account of its extraordinary size—it was the largest real coral ever known. 















388 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Nothing has been heard of it since, excepting that the fishery was prohibited 
in Japan. 

Shells of the Indian Ocean.— No sea shells are so beautiful aa 

those found in the Indian Ocean. As the vegetation of tropical countries is 
of surpassing beauty, so do the waters of these climates yield the most 
wonderful and beautiful things. Our illustration will convey an idea of the 
magnificent shells found upon the shores of Southern Asia. 

Pearl Fishing.— The most famous pearls are those from the East; the 
coast of Ceyloh, or Taprobane, as it was called by the Greeks, having from 
the earliest times been the chief locality for pearl fishing. They are, how¬ 
ever, obtained now of nearly the same quality in other parts of the world, as 
Panama in South America, St. Margarita in the West Indies, the Coro¬ 
mandel Coast, the shores of the Sooloo Islands, the Bahrein Islands, and 
the islands of Karak and Corgo in the Persian Gulf. The pearls of the 
Bahrein fishery are said to be even finer than those of Ceylon, and they form 
an important part of the trade of Bassora. These, and indeed all the for¬ 
eign pearls used in jewelry, are produced by the pearl oyster. The shells 
of°the molluscs which yield the Ceylon, Indian, and Persian ones, are some¬ 
times as much as a foot in diameter, and are usually about nine inches. 
Those of the New World, although the shells are smaller and thicker, are 
believed to be the same species. The chief locality of the Ceylon pearl 
fishery is a bank about twenty miles long, ten or twelve miles from shore, 
opposite to the villages of Condatchy and Arippo on the northern coast. 
The season of the fishery lasts about three months, commencing at the be¬ 
ginning of February, and is carried on under government regulations. The 
boats employed are open, and vary in size from ten to fifteen tons burden; 
they put out at night, usually at ten o’clock, on a signal gun being fired from 
the fort of Arippo, and make for the government guard vessel, which is 
moored on the bank, and serves the double purpose of a guard and a light¬ 
ship. The divers are under the direction of a manager, who is called the 
Adapanaar, and they are chiefly Tamils and Moors from India. For each 
diver there is provided a diving stone, weighing about thirty pounds, which 
is fastened to the end of a rope long enough to reach the bottom, and having 
a loop made for the man’s foot; and in addition to this, a large network 
basket, in which to place the pearl oysters as he collects them. These are 
hung over the sides of the boat; and the diver, placing his foot in the loop 
attached to the stone, liberates the coils of the rope, and with his net-basket 
rapidly descends to the bottom. To each boat there is usually allotted a 
crew of thirteen men and ten divers, five of whom are descending while the 
others are resting. This work is done very rapidly; for, notwithstanding 
the stories to the contrary, the best divers cannot remain longer than eighty 
seconds below, and few are able to exceed sixty. The greatest depth they 
descend is thirteen fathoms, and the usual depth about nine fathoms. When 
the diver gives the signal by pulling the rope, he is quickly hauled up with 
his net and its contents. Accidents rarely happen; and as the men are very 
superstitious, their safety is attributed to the incantations of their shark- 
charmers, performed at the commencement of the fishing. Sir E. Tennent, 
however, attributes the rarity of accidents from sharks, usually so abundant 
in tropical seas, to the bustle and to the excitement of the waters during the 
fishery frightening away those dreaded creatures. The divers are some¬ 
times paid fixed wages, others agree for one-fourth of the produce, When 


WONDERS OF THE SEA. 


m 


a boat-load of oysters lias been obtained, it returns to shore, and the cargo, 
sometimes amounting to twenty or thirty thousand, is landed and piled on 
the shore to die and putrefy, in order that the pearls may be easily found. 
The heaps are formed in small walled compartments, the walls surround¬ 
ing each being one or two feet in height. Several of these compartments 
surround a small central enclosure, in which is a bath, and they slope 
towards this bath, and are each connected with it by a small channel, so 
that any pearls washed out from the putrefying mass by the rain may be 
carried into the bath. When the animals in the shells are sufficiently de¬ 
composed, the washing commences, and great care is taken to watch for the 
loose pearls, which are always by far the most valuable; the shells are then 
examined, and if any attached pearls are seen, they are handed over to the 
clippers, who, with pinchers or hammer, skillfully remove them. Such 
pearl8 are used only for setting; whilst the former, being usually quite 
round, are drilled and strung, and can be used for beads, etc. The work¬ 
men who are employed to drill the pearls also round the irregular ones, 
and polish them with great skill. The method of holding the pearls during 
these operations is very curious; they make a number of holes of small 
depth in a piece of dry wood, and into these they fit the pearls, so that they 
are only partly below the surface of the wood, which they then place in 
water. As it soaks up the water and swells, the pearls become tightly fixed, 
and are then perforated, etc. These operations are all carried on on the spot. 

For many miles along the Condatchy shore, the accumulation of shells 
is enormous, and averages at least four feet in thickness. This is not to be 
wondered at, when it is remembered that this fishery has been in active 
operation for at least two thousand years. The place itself is exceedingly 
barren and dreary, and, except during the fishing season, is almost deserted; 
but at that time it presents an exceedingly animated spectacle; thousands 
of people, of various countries and castes, are here drawn together—Some 
for the fishery, others to buy pearls, and others to feed the multitude. They 
chiefly reside in tents, so that it appears a vast encampment. 

The pearls vary much in size; those as large as a pea, and of good color 
and form are the best, except unusually large specimens, which rarely 
occur, the most extraordinary one known being the pearl owned by the late 
Mr. Hope, which measured two inches in length and four in circumference, 
and weighed eighteen hundred grains. The smaller ones are sorted into 
sizes, the very smallest being called seed-pearls. A considerable quantity 
of these last are sent to China, where they are said to be calcined, and used 
in Chinese pharmacy. Among the Romans, the pearl was a great favorite, 
and enormous prices were paid for fine ones. One author gives the value 
of a string of pearls at one million sesterces, or about $40,000. The single 
pearl which Cleopatra is said to have dissolved and swallowed was valued 
at $400 000; and one of the same value was cut into two pieces for earrings 
for the statue of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome. Coming down to later 
times we read of a pearl, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, belonging to Sir 
Thomas Gresham, which was valued at $75,000, and which he is said to 
have treated after the fashion of Cleopatra, for he powdered it and drank it 
in a glass of wine to the health of the Queen, in order to astonish the am¬ 
bassador of Spain, with whom he had laid a wager that he would give a 
more costly dinner than could the Spaniard. 

Sponges.— While handling sponge in its prepared state, as we see it in 
the shops, it is difficult to believe that it belongs to the animal kingdom, 


300 CYCLOPEDIA OF VSEFTTL KNOWLEDGE. 

Sponge, however, is not the animal itself, but only its skeleton, or frame¬ 
work, as it were. That which constitutes the living portion of the animal is 
removed in preparing the sponge for market. The animal proper covers 
the framework, and is of a jelly-like appearance, like that of other low forms 
of animal life. Various openings and channels allow the passage of water 
through all parts of the mass, and the gelatinous portion has microscopic 
hairs, which are capable of rapid motion, and by their means water is drawn 
into and forced out of the sponge. When divided, the.living sponge seems 
to suffer no inconvenience, but each part sets up on its own account, lives 
on as if nothing had happened, and it becomes two sponges. 

The best sponge of commerce is found in the Mediterranean, and is 
known as Turkey or Smyrna sponge; this is obtained by divers. Bahama 



A LIVING SPONGE, 


or West India sponge is coarser, and is sold at a much less price. Much 
sponge is gathered off the coast of Southern Florida. Indeed, the Florida 
sponge fisheries furnish employment to many men and boats. 

When a vessel arrives at the fishing ground in the Bahama Islands, it is 
anchored, and the men in small boats proceed to look for sponges in the 
water below. The water is a beautiful light-blue color, and so clear a six¬ 
pence can easily be seen on the white sandy bottom in thirty-five to forty 
feet of water. Of course when there is no wind, and the surface of the water 
is still, the sponges are easily seen, but when a gentle breeze is blowing a 
“ sea-glass ” is used. A sea-glass consists of a square pine box about 
twenty inches in length, a pane of glass about ten by twelve inches placed 





















391 


WONDERS OF TEE SEA . 


in one end, water tight. To use it, the glass end is thrust into the water, 
and the face of the operator is placed close to the other. By this means the 
wave motions of the water are overcome, and the bottom readily seen. 
Sponges when seen on the bottom attached to the rocks, look like a big black 
bunch. They are pulled off their natural beds by forked hooks, which are 
run down under the sponge, which is formed like the head of a cabbage, and 
the roots pulled from the rocks. 

When brought to the surface it is a mass of soft, glutinous stuff, which 
to the touch feels like soap or thick jelly. When a small boat load is ob¬ 
tained they are taken to the shore, where a crawl is built in which they are 
placed to die, so that the jelly substance will readily separate from the firm 
fibre of the sponge. These crawls are built by sticking pieces of brush into 
the sand out of the water, large enough to contain the catch. It takes from 
five to six days for the insect to die, when the sponges are beaten with small 
sticks, and the black glutinous substance falls off, leaving the sponge, after 
a thorough washing, ready for market. 


The “ Conch Pearl.”—Many people, says the Scientific American, 
have doubtless frequently seen and admired the delicately tinted, pink¬ 
faced shells which are extensively used in the United States for bordering 
garden walks and other ornamental purposes, but few probably are aware 
that in the conch which forms and inhabits this shell is occasionally found 
a very lovely gem, known to lapidaries as the conch pearl. When perfect, 
the pearl is either round or egg-shaped and somewhat larger than a pea, of 
a beautiful rose-color, and watered—that is, presenting, when held to the 
light the sheeny, wavy appearance of watered silk. It is, however, a very 
rare circumstance to find a pearl which possesses all the requirements that 
constitute a perfect gem, and when such does happen, it proves an ex¬ 
ceedingly valuable prize to its fortunate finder. A good pearl is very valu¬ 
able indeed, some having been sold in Nassau for no less a sum than four 
hundred dollars. Although many of these pearls are annually obtained by 
the fishermen in the Bahamas, not more than one in twenty proves to be a 
really good gem, and hence probably their high price. 

Pink is the most common and only desirable color, although white, yel¬ 
low and brown pearls are occasionally found. Even among the pink ones 
there is usually some defect which mars their beauty and materially injures 
them; some are very irregular in shape, and covered, apparently, with 
knobs or protuberances; others are too small, while many lack the watering 
which gives them their great value and chief beauty. 

The conch abounds in the waters of the Bahamas, and thousands of them 
are annually obtained and destroyed?for their shells, which form quite an 
article of commerce, but in not one conch in a thousand is a pearl found. 
When this is taken into account, and the other fact, that not more t an one 
in twenty of pearls found turns out to be perfect, it will at once be seen that 
a good conch pearl will always be a rare and costly gem. In fact, their 
value within the last few years has almost doubled, and the demand for 
them is steadily increasing. 


A Sea Aster Attached to a Crab.- The species of sea aster often- 
est found on the coast of New Jersey and northward, though not among the 
most attractive, is nevertheless a very interesting specimen. He is gener¬ 
ally of a dingy or creamy white, striped and dotted with a rich brown, and 
&bove all orowned with an abundant spread of pink and white feathery ten* 


$92 CYCLOP JED IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

tacles. Unlike most of his race, he does not delight in solitary and local 
position, and so seems to have caught the spirit of his native land, and seeks 
for new scenes; and, not to be behind his biped neighbors, he prefers that 
others should give him a free ticket for all his journeys. He glues himself 



A SEA ASTER ATTACHED TO A CRAB. 


to the shell of some crab or periwinkle, and takes a gratuitous ride to any 
place where it may feel disposed to carry him. 

The Floor of the Ocean —Here is an end of all romance about 
hidden ocean depths. We can speculate no longer about peris in chambers 
of pearl, or mermaids, or heaped treasures and dead men’s bones whitening 
in coral caves. The whole ocean floor is now mapped out for us. The re¬ 
port of the expedition sent out from London in Her Majesty’s ship “ Chal¬ 
lenger ” has recently been published. Nearly four years were given to the 
examination of the currents and floors of the four great oceans of the world. 











WONDERS OF THE SEA . 


393 


The Atlantic, we are told, if drained, would be a vast plain, with a moun¬ 
tain range in the middle running parallel with our coast. Another range 
crosses it from Newfoundland to Ireland, on top of which lies a submarine 
cable. The ocean is thus divided into three great basins, no longer “ un¬ 
fathomable depths.’' 

The tops of these sea mountains are two miles below a sailing ship, and 
the basins, according to Reeius, are fifteen miles, which is deep enough for 
drowning, if not for mystery. 

The mountains are whitened for thousands of miles by a tiny creamy 
shell. The depths are red in color, heaped with volcanic masses. Through 
the black, motionless water of these abysses move gigantic abnormal crea¬ 
tures, which never rise to upper currents. 

There is an old legend coming down to us from the first ages of the 
world on which these scientific Dead Sea soundings throw a curious light. 
Plato and Solon record the tradition, ancient in their days, of a country in 
the western seas where flourished the first civilization of mankind, which, 
by volcanic action, was submerged and lost. The same story is told by the 
Central Americans, who still celebrate, in the fast of Izealli, the frightful 
cataclysm which destroyed this land with its stately cities. 

De Bourbourgh and other archaeologists assert that this land extended 
from Mexico beyond the West Indies. The shape of the plateau discovered 
by the “Challenger” corresponds with this theory. What if some keen 
Yankee should yet dredge out from its unfathomed slime the lost Atlantis ? 

At tlie Bottom of the Indian Ocean —Who can tell of all the won¬ 
drous things that live in the sea ? In the Indian Ocean, many feet below 
the surface of the water, grow woods quite as luxuriant as any jungles or 
thickets we read of in South America. Some of the trees grow as high as 
two houses piled on one another. They are called by a hard name—“ Nero- 
cysten.” The roots resemble coral, and from the slender stem grows a 
cluster of very long leaves. Other trees grow almost as high, and end in 
one single huge leaf that is about the size of our forest trees. Bushes— 
green, yellow and red—are dotted here and there, and a velvety carpet of 
diminutive plants covers the ground. Flowers in all the tints of the rain¬ 
bow ornament the rocks, and large leaves of the iris, of dazzling pink and 
red, float among them, and sea-anemones, as large and brilliant as cactus- 
flowers, form beds in the moss. Blue, red, purple and green little fish dart 
here and there, and between the bushes glides like a serpent the long 
silvery ribbon fish. Thus beautiful it is in the day; but when night comes 
on, and you suppose all creatures gone to bed, the landscape grows more 
lovely still. Little crabs and medusas light up the sea; the sea-pen quivers 
with green phosphoric light; what was brown and red in the day is changed 
into bright green, yellow and red; and among all these glittering jewels the 
moonfish floats like a silvery crescent. 

A Murderous Sea Flower.— One of the exquisite wonders of the 
sea is called the opelet, and is about as large as the German aster, looking, 
indeed, very much like one. Imagine a very large double aster, with a 
great many long petals of a light green color, glossy satin, and each one 
tipped with rose color. These lovely petals do not lie quietly in their 
places, but wave about in the water, while the opelet clings to the rock. 
How innocent and lovely it looks on its rocky bed! Who should suspect 
that it would eat anything grosser than dew and sunlight? But those 


394 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


beautiful waving arms, as you call them, have uses besides looking pretty. 
They have to provide for a large, open mouth, which is hidden down deep 
among them—so hidden that one can scarcely find it. Well do they per¬ 
form their duty, for the instant a foolish little fish touches one of the rosy 
tips, he is struck with poison as fatal to him as lightning. He immediately 
becomes numb, and in a moment stops struggling, and then the other arms 
wrap themselves around him, and he is drawn into the huge, greedy mouth, 
and is seen no more. Then the lovely arms unclose, and wave again in the 
water. 

A Singular Star Pish.—The most singular of all the star fishes is 
the splendid Astrophyton. Its center is not unlike the gorgeous appear- 



A SINGULAR STAB FISH. 


ance of a Chinese wheel; but what a curious tie of twisting and twining ten¬ 
tacles. From the central disc five stout arms branch out, which are sub¬ 
divided at once, and these again in turn; and so on continuously until more 
than eighty thousand branches are formed, puzzling the eye to search out 
the mass ol ramifications. All these tentacles are extremely flexible, and 
are generally kept wreathing and twisting; but when the animal chooses, 
they can be so closely drawn up as to give the shape of a globular basket- 
hence the creature is often called by the fishermen the « Sea Basket ” Bv 
stretching out this mass of long tentacles, the animal forms a large net bv 
means of which it effects its captures and holds the victim to its mouth ’ 





















FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


The Earth.—To a spectator so placed as to have an unobstructed view 
all round, the earth appears a circular plain, on whose circumference the 
vault of heaven seems to rest. Accordingly, in ancient times, even philoso¬ 
phers long looked upon the earth as a fiat disc swimming upon the water. 
But many appearances were soon observed to be at variance with this idea, 
and even in antiquity, the spherical form of the earth began to be suspected 
by individuals. It is only by assuming the earth to be spherical, that we 
can explain how our circle of vision becomes wider as our position is more 
elevated; and how the tops of towers, mountains, masts of ships, and the 
like come first into view as we approach them. There are many other 
proofs that the earth is a globe. Thus, as we advance from the poles 
towards the equator, new stars, formerly invisible, come gradually into 
view; the shadow of the earth upon the moon during an eclipse is always 
round; the same momentary appearance in the heavens is seen at different 
hours of the day in different places on the earth’s surface; and lastly, the 
earth, since 1519, has been circumnavigated innumerable times. The ob¬ 
jection to this view that readily arises from our unthinking impressions of 
up and down, which immediately suggests the picture of the inhabitants of 
the opposite side of the earth—our ardipodes —with their head3 downwards, 
is easily got over by considering that on all parts of the earth’s surface, 
doicn is towards the earth’s center. 

It is not, however, strictly true that the earth is a sphere; it is slightly 
flattened or compressed at two opposite points—the poles—as has been 
proved by actual measurement of degrees of latitude, and by observations 
of the pendulum. It is found that a degree of a meridian is not everywhere 
of the same length as it would be if the earth were a perfect sphere, but in¬ 
creases from the equator to the poles; from which it is rightly inferred 
that the earth is flattened there. A pendulum, again, of a given length is 
found to move faster when carried towards the poles, and slower when car¬ 
ried towards the equator, which shows that the force of gravity is less at the 
equator than at the poles, or, in other words, that the center, the seat of 
gravity, is more distant at the former than at the latter. The diminished 
force of gravity at the equator has, it is true, another cause, namely, the 
centrifugal force arising from the rotation of the earth, which acts counter 
to gravitation, and is necessarily greatest at the equator, and gradually les¬ 
sens as we move northwards or southwards, till at the poles it is nothing. 
But the diminution of the force of gravity at the equator arising from the 
centrifugal force amounts to only 1-289 of the whole force; while the diminu¬ 
tion indicated by the pendulum is 1-194. The difference, or 1-580 nearly, 
remains assignable to the greater distance of the surface from the center a 

the equator than at the poles. • . 

We have now seen that the earth is a sphere slightly flattened at its poles 
—what is called by geometers an elliptical spheroid—of a mean radius oi 
somewhat less than four thousand miles. We have next to consider its 



396 CYCLOPEDIA OP TfSEFVL KNOWLEDOE. 


mass and density. Nothing astonishes the young student more than the 
idea of weighing the earth; but there are several ways of doing it; and un¬ 
less we could do it, we never could know its density. (1.) The first method 
is by observing how much the attraction of a mountain deflects a plummet 
from the vertical line. This being observed, if we can ascertain the actual 
weight of the mountain, we can calculate that of the earth. In this way, 
Dr. Maskelyne, in the years 1774-1776, by experiments at Schihallion, in 
Perthshire, a large mountain mass lying east and west, and steep on both 
sides—calculated the earth’s mean density to be five times greater than that 
of water. The observed deflection of the plummet in these experiments 
was between 4" to 5”. (2.) In the method just described, there must al¬ 
ways be uncertainty, however accurate the observations, in regard to the 
mass or weight of the mountain. The method known as Cavendish’s experi¬ 
ment is much freer from liability to error. This experiment was first made 
by Henry Cavendish on the suggestion of Michel, and has since been re¬ 
peated by Reich of Freyberg, and Mr. Francis Baily. The apparatus used 
by Mr. Baily has two small balls at the extremities of a fine rod suspended 
by a wire, and their position carefully observed by the aid of a telescope. 
Large balls of lead, placed on a turning-frame, are then brought near them 
in such a way that they can affect them only by the force of their attraction. 
On the large balls being so placed, the small ones move towards them 
through a small space, which is carefully measured. The position of the 
large balls is then reversed, and the change of position of the small balls is 
again observed. Many observations are made, till the exact amount of the 
deviation of the small balls is ascertained beyond doubt. Then by calcula¬ 
tion the amount of attraction of the large balls to produce this deviation is 
easily obtained. Having reached this, the next question is, what would 
their attraction be if they were as large as the earth ? This is easily an¬ 
swered, and hence, as we .know the attractive force of the earth, we can at 
once compare its mean density with that of lead. Mr. Baily’s experiments 
lead to the result that the earth’s mean density is 5-67 times that of water. 
(3.) A third mode has lately been adopted by the Astronomer-royal, by 
comparison of two invariable pendulums, one at the earth’s surface, the 
other at the bottom of a pit at Harton Colliery, near Newcastle, one thou¬ 
sand two hundred and fifty feet below the surface. The density of the 
earth, as ascertained from this experiment, is between six and seven times 
that of water; but for various reasons this result is not to be accepted as 
against that of the Cavendish experiment, and it is said that the Astronomer- 
royal was himself dissatisfied with it, and meant to repeat the experiment 
with new precautions. The density of the earth being known, its mass is 
easily calculated, and made a unit of mass for measuring that of the other 
bodies in the system. It is found that the mass of the earth compared with 
that of the sun is *0000028173. 

The earth, as a member of the solar system, moves along with the other 
planets round the sun from west to east. This is contrary to our sensible 
impressions, according to which the sun seems to move round the earth; 
and it was not till a few centuries ago that men were able to get over this 
illusion. This journey round the sun is performed in about three hundred 
and sixty-five and a quarter days, which we call a year (solar year). The 
earth’s path or orbit is not strictly a circle, but an ellipse of small eccentri¬ 
city, in one of the foci of which is the sun. It follows that the earth is not 
equally distant from the sun at all times of the year; it is nearest, or in peri¬ 
helion, at the beginning of the year, or when the northern hemisphere has 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE . 


397 


winter; and at its greatest distance, or aphelion, about the middle of the 
year, or during the summer of the northern hemisphere. The difference of 
distance, however, is comparatively too small to exercise any perceptible 
influence on the heat derived from the sun, and the variation of the seasons 
has a quite different cause. The least distance of the sun from the earth is 
over ninety-four millions of miles, and the greatest over ninety-six millions; 
the mean distance is commonly stated at ninety-five millions. If the mean 
distance be taken as unity, then the greatest and least are respectively re¬ 
presented by 1*01679, and 0*98321. It follows that the earth yearly describes 
a path of upwards of five hundred and ninety-six millions of miles, so that 
its velocity in its orbit is about ninety-nine thousand feet, or nineteen miles 
in a second. 

Besides its annual motion round the sun the earth has a daily motion or 
rotation on its axis, or shorter diameter, which is performed from west to 
east, and occupies exactly twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, four sec¬ 
onds of mean time. On this motion depend the rising and setting of the 
sun, or the vicissitudes of day and night. The relative lengths of day and 
night depend upon the angle formed by the earth’s axis with the plane of 
its orbit. If the axis were perpendicular to the plane of the orbit, day and 
night would be equal during the whole year over all the earth, and there 
would be no change of seasons; but the axis makes with the orbit an angle 
of' 23>*°, and the consequence of this is all that variety of seasons and of 
climates that we find on the earth’s surface; for it is only for a small strip 
(theoretically, for a mere line) lying under the equator that the days aud 
nights are equal all the year; at all other places, this equality only occurs 
on the two days in each year when the sun seems to pass through the ce¬ 
lestial equator, i. e., about the 21st of March and 23d of September. From 
March 21, the sun departs from the equator towards the north, till, about 
June 21, he has reached a north declination of 23>a°, when he again ap¬ 
proaches the equator, which he reaches about September 23. He then ad¬ 
vances southward, and about December 21 has reached a south declination 
of 23K°, when he turns once more towards the equator, at which he arrives 
March 21. The 21st of June is the longest day in the northern hemisphere, 
and the shortest in the southern; with the 21st of December it is the re¬ 
verse. 

The velocity of the earth’s rotation on its axis evidently increases gradu¬ 
ally from the poles to the equator, where it is about equal to that of a mus¬ 
ket-ball, being at the rate of twenty-four thousand eight hundred and 
forty miles a day, or about one thousand four hundred and forty feet in a 
second. 

A direct proof of the rotation of the earth is furnished by its compression 
at the poles. There are indubitable indications that the earth was origi¬ 
nally fluid, or at least soft; and in that condition it must have assumed the 
spherical shape. The only cause, then, that can be assigned for the fact that 
it has not done so, is its rotation on its axis. Calculation also shows that 
the amount of compression which the earth actually has, corresponds 
exactly to what its known velocity and mass must have produced. Experi¬ 
ments with the pendulum, too, show a decrease of the force of gravity from 
the poles toward the equator; and though a part of this decrease is owing 
to the want of perfect sphericity, the greatest part arises from the centrifu¬ 
gal force caused by the motion of rotation. Another direct proof of the 
same hypothesis may be drawn from the observation, that bodies dropped 
from a considerable height deviate towards the east from the vertical line. 


398 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


This fact has been established by the experiments of Benzenberg and others. 
In former times, it was believed that if the earth actually revolved in the 
direction of the east, a stone dropped from the top of a tower would fall, not 
exactly at the foot of the tower, but to the west of it. Now, as experience, 
it was argued, shows that this is not the case—that the stone, in fact, does 
fall at the bottom—we have here a proof that the pretended rotation of the 
earth does not take place. Even Tycho Brahe and Riccioli held this objec¬ 
tion to the doctrine to be unanswerable. But the facts of the case were just 
the reverse. Newton, with his wonted clearness of vision, saw that, in con¬ 
sequence of the earth’s motion from west to east, bodies descending from a 
height must decline from the perpendicular, not westward, but eastward; 
since, by their greater distance from the earth’s center, they acquire at the 
top a greater eastward velocity than the surface of the earth has at the 
bottom, and retain that velocity during their descent. He therefore pro¬ 
posed that more exact observations should be made to ascertain the fact; 
but it was not till more than a century afterwards that experiments of suf¬ 
ficient delicacy were made to bring out the expected result satisfactorily. 
It is difficult to find an elevation sufficiently great for the purpose, as several 
hundred feet give merely a slight deviation, which it requires great 
accuracy to observe. If a height of ten thousand feet could be made avail¬ 
able, the deviation would be not less than seven and one-half feet. The 
analogy of our earth to the other planets may also be adduced, the rotation 
of which, with the exception of the smallest and the most distant, is dis¬ 
tinctly discernible. Finally, an additional proof of the earth’s rotation was 
lately given by Leon Foucault’s striking experiment with the pendulum. 
The principle of the experiment is this: That a pendulum once set in motion, 
and swinging freely, continues to swing in the same plane, while at any 
place at a distance from the equator the plane of the meridian continues to 
change its position relative to this fixed plane. The objection taken to the 
doctrine of rotation from the fact that we are unconscious of any motion, has 
little weight. The movement of a vessel in smooth water is not felt, though 
far less uniform than that of the earth; and as the atmosphere accompanies 
the earth in its motion, there is no feeling of cutting through it to break the 
illusion of rest. 

If the turning of the earth on its axis is thus proved to be the cause of 
the apparent daily motion of the heavens, it is an easy step to consider the 
annual motion of the sun through the constellations of the zodiac as also ap¬ 
parent, and arising from a revolution of the earth about the sun in the same 
direction of west to cast. If we consider that the mass of the sun is about 
three hundred and fifty-nine thousand times greater than that of the earth, 
and that by the laws of mechanics, two bodies that revolve round each other, 
must revolve about their common center of gravity, the idea of the sun 
revolving about the earth is seen to be simply impossible. The common 
center of gravity of the two bodies being distant from the center of each in¬ 
versely as their respective masses, is calculated to be only two hundred and 
sixty-seven miles from the center of the sun, and therefore far within his 
body, which has a diameter of eight hundred and eighty-two thousand 
miles. But by help of a figure, it is easy to show that the apparent motion 
of the sun on the ecliptic naturally arises from a motion of the earth about 
the sun. The motions of the planets also, that appear so complicated and 
irregular as seen by us, can only be satisfactorily explained by assum¬ 
ing that they too revolve round the sun in the same direction as the earth. 

That the interior of the earth is the seat of intense heat is a familiar 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


399 


truth. Volcanic phenomena give us ocular demonstration -of it. Mining 
experiences, moreover, have furnished us with an almost uniform rate at 
which the heat increases, and this is generally computed to be about one 
degree Fahrenheit for every fifty-five feet of descent. But mining experi¬ 
ences are necessarily very limited. The deepest mine in England, that of 
the Rosebridge colliery, near Wigan, takes us down only two thousand four 
hundred and forty-five feet, and to a temperature not much exceeding 
ninety degrees Fahrenheit. It is hot enough to make the work exceedingly 
trying to the miners, but that is all. This, however, is (so to speak) scarcely 
traversing the earth’s epidermis. But if we may assume a uniform increase 
of heat in descending, the temperature at a depth of fifty miles may be ex¬ 
pressed in figures as four thousand eight hundred degrees Fahrenheit. In 
other words, at less than an eighth of the distance which lies between the 
circumference of the earth and its center, the heat would be about twenty- 
two times the heat of boiling water at the sea level. Proportionate figures 
might, of course, express the heat at greater depths still, but figures fail to 
convey any idea to the mind of that which must iiecessarily transcend all 
imagination, Suffice it to say, that in a descending series we must eventu¬ 
ally come to a heat so great that no substance with which we are acquainted 
could, under any conditions which we can imagine, exist in it in either solid 
or fluid form. And we conclude, therefore, that if the earth’s center be not 
itself in a gaseous condition (and there is reason to think that it may not be 
so) there must be a gaseous zone somewhere between a solid center and a 
solid circumference. “Facilis descensus Averni ” is proverbially treated as 
a truism. But if the classic authors are to be our guides, and if in the cen¬ 
ter of our planet Acherontian Shades and Elysian Fields are to be localized, 
there will be found practical difficulties of access which might well discour¬ 
age even so substantial a personage as a glfcst. Nor can the all-powerful 
imagination accomplish the descent with any approach to ease. The dis¬ 
tance we may suppose to be nearly four thousand three hundred miles; 
but along a line of this length connecting the surface of the earth with its 
center, we may safely assume that conditions would vary greatly, and (since 
heat and pressure have to be balanced one against the other) probably by 
no means uniformly. We can measure the power of pressure upon the sur¬ 
face, but in the nether depths its power is in part open to conjecture, nor 
can we say how soon we may reach a debatable zone, at which the expan- 
siveness of heat may overcome the compressive force of gravitation. Nor, 
again, could we venture to expect to find that zone itself always at a uni¬ 
form depth. Here and there it seems to approach the surface. The vol¬ 
cano is nature’s safety-valve, and the cavernous rumbles of the earthquake 
warn us that there are imprisoned gases beneath our feet, which pressure 
but imperfectly prevents from escaping. Upon other grounds, also, it is 
quite evident that our experience, limited as it is to the surface of the earth, 
may tend to mislead us m regard to what lies beneath the surface; for, if 
pressure increased uniformly with depth, the average density of the earth 
would be much greater than what, upon astronomical data, we know it to 
be. The earth as a whole, is about five and a half times as heavy as it 
would be if it were entirely composed of water; or, technically expressed, 
the density of water is one, and the mean density of the globe is five and a 
half. But five and a half is only about double the density of rock matter 
upon the surface; whereas, if nothing but steadily increasing pressure be 
supposed, it would vastly exceed this. There is, therefore, only one possi¬ 
ble explanation. Heat, intense heat, somewhere or ether, overcomes pres- 


400 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

sure and converts everything into gas; and if it were in our power to try 
experiments, and to feed the subterranean crucible with the most intracta¬ 
ble substance—asbestos, fire-proof safes, or what we will—all would there 
share the same fate—instant evanescence. 

The Sun_The following interesting information regarding the sun is 

from the stenographic report of a lecture by Professor Garrett P. Serviss, 
secretary of the American Astronomical Society: “No one present probably 
knows how grand a planet the sun is. Its size cannot be conceived. But 
let us weigh it and get some idea of its great dimensions. Put tfie sun and 
earth in the scales and add the planet Jupiter to the latter and the sun 
would weigh more, and yet Jupiter weighs three times as much as all the 
other planets put together. We will then throw all the other planets in the 
scale with the earth and, yet the sun will not move. Aladdin’s wonderful 
lamp would not make the sun budge. Don’t let us give it up, however, but 
throw in one hundred thousand globes and then altogether we will have 
three hundred thousand globes, but still the sun would not budge. We’ll 
add thirty thousand more worlds and the sun then moves until it just bal¬ 
ances the enormous weight of three hundred and thirty thousand worlds. 
By this it will be seen that the attractive power of the sun must be very 
great to keep such an enormous mass in control. The earth weighs six 
sextillions of tons. If a man possessed the same number of dollars and be¬ 
gan counting them out at the rate of ten dollars a minute, the time which 
would have elapsed since the time of Adam and Eve, nearly six thousand 
years, would be a mere incident in comparison to the period during which 
the calculation would have to continue. The weight of the earth is so great 
that it is flying through the air only controlled by the laws of gravitation. 
The velocity of this globe is so great that it goes through space at the rate 
of eighteen miles a second. The distance of the sun from the earth is 
estimated at about ninety-five million miles, and yet it is held secure by 
the resistless arms of gravitation. The earth cannot get away, for the sun 
holds it in its power. Look at Jupiter, the gigantic; it is fifteen times larger 
than the earth, and yet the sun holds Jupiter. The planets are the slaves 
of the sun, which by the wonderful power of gravitation holds everything in 
the power of the great orbit. The sun is the source of all life, and the heat 
from it is so great that we are able to live only on account of it. If the sun 
was to lose its heat for one month the earth would die. During the past three 
years the surface of the sun has been covered with spots, commonly called 
“ sun spots.” They have been so large in some instances that they have 
been seen without the aid of a telescope. Some of these spots are larger 
than the earth. They appear on the surface like holes into which streams 
of molten metal seemed to continually pour. The sun is simply a ball o. 
gases, and the matter found in it is composed of iron, gold and silver, cop¬ 
per and granite. Indeed these substances are so great that they would 
make three hundred thousand globes like that in which we live and work. 
The spots are like vapors, which appear and disappear at times. Last year 
the sun was full of these spots. It has been noticed that they appear about 
once in every eleven years. The cavity is so enormous in some of the spots 
that the earth could be dropped into it and disappear like a billiard ball. 
On the 16th of April, 1882, the lecturer watched these spots, and he found 
the surface of the great body change in a most wonderful manner. They 
gave a terror to the scene. Just as the sun disappeared below the horizon 
it was noticed that a pale green arch of light appeared above the horizon, 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 401 



just over the point where the sun had gone down. This was followed in 
time by bright streams of light shooting up to the zenith, after which the 
aurora borealis was visible in the sky. There was no sound, and the flam¬ 
ing heavens were as silent as death. It was a pantomime played by 
ghosts of fire. The lecturer then referred to the corona of the sun. It ap¬ 
peared to be a shell of scarlet fire, and was only to be seen at a total 
eclipse; but it had lately been seen by aid of powerful telescopes in the day¬ 
light. The sun is a globe of matter heated to a gaseous condition. The 
sheet of scarlet fire is supposed to have been caused by long ago and con¬ 
stant eruptions, sending up showers of red flames and heat from the inside 
of the sun. The sun will doubtless die in the course of the next ten million 
years. We will wait till that time and see what happens. It is now going 
through a process of cooling. All life would cease throughout the solar 
system and the earth would 
be lighted only by the stars. 

At present an envelope or 
crust is being seen on the 
edge of the great orbit of 
day. This will in time cover 
the entire surface, and then 
the radiant splendors of the 
sun will be invisible.” 

Herschel’s Theory of 
Sun Spots—S u n spots 
consist of a black center or 
nucleus called the umbra , 
and a grayish envelope or 
border called the penumbra. 

These again are surrounded 
by bright streaks or patches 
of light called faculce. But 
they vary in appearance. 

Sometimes the nucleus is 
seen -without a penumbra, 
and again it is not seen at 
all. They constantly change 
in size, position and num¬ 
ber. Some come and go 
in a day, while others 
last weeks without much change. The generally received opinion seems 
to be that the sun is an opaque body, surrounded by three cloud-like 
envelopes, each several thousand miles in thickness. The one nearest the 
sun is a cloudy atmosphere, reflecting light, but giving out none. The sec¬ 
ond, called the photosphere, is luminous, and the source of the sun’s light. 
The third is transparent, and surrounds the other. Sun spots are supposed 
to be openings or rifts in these different envelopes. The openings are sup¬ 
posed by Sir John Herschel to be caused by changes of temperature, like 
those which produce our whirlwinds. Another interesting fact is that when 
there are most sun spots the beautiful aurora borealis is most frequently seen. 


herrchel’s theobt of sttn spots. 
a a , the photosphere; b b , the cloud envelope; 
A, spot with nucleus and penumbra; B, spots 
without penumbra; C, penumbra without 
nucleus. 


The Moon.—The moon is the satellite of the earth, around which it 
revolves from west to east iu a period of one month, and in consequence 








402 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

accompanying the earth in its motion round the sun. As the moon, to an 
observer on the earth, advances more than 13° to the east daily, whilst the 
corresponding advance of the sun is barely 1°, her progress among the stars 
is much more notable than that of the latter. This rapid angular motion, 
the continual and regular variation of her illuminated surface, and her large 
apparent size (being nearly equal to that of the sun), have rendered the 
moon an object of general interest; while her importance as the principal 
nocturnal substitute for the sun, and her special value to navigators and 
geographers in the determination of longitudes, have rendered the lunar 
theory the object of the most thorough and careful investigation. 

The first peculiarity about the moon that strikes a casual observer, is the 
constant and regular change of her illuminated surface from a thin crescent 
to a circle, and vice versa, and a corresponding change in the time of her 
appearance above the horizon. These changes depend upon the position of 
the moon relative to the earth and the sun, for it is only the half of the 
moon facing the sun that is illuminated by his rays, and the whole of this 
illuminated portion can only be seen from the earth when the sun, earth and 
moon are in a straight line (the line of'syzygies), and the earth is between 
the sun and moon. When the moon is in the line of syzygies, but between 
the earth and the sun, no part of her illuminated disc can be seen from tho 
earth. In the former case, the moon is said to be full, and in the latter, 
new. A few hours after “ new moon,” the moon appears a little to the east 
of the sun as a thin crescent, with the horns pointing towards the east, and 
as she increases her angular distance from the sun at the rate of about 12° 
daily, the crescent of light becomes broader, till, after the lapse of a little 
more than seven days, at which time she is 90° in advance of the sun, she 
presents the appearance of a semi-circle of light. The moon is then said to 
have completed her first quarter. Continuing her course, she becomes 
“ gibbous; ” and at the fifteenth or sixteenth day from new moon; attains a 
position 180’ in advance of the sun, and now presents the appearance known 
as full moon. From this point she begins to approach the sun, again ap¬ 
pearing gibbous, and after a third period of more than seven days, reaches 
a point 90° west of him, and enters her last quarter. Here, again, she 
appears as a semi-circle of light, the illuminated portion being that which 
•was not illuminated at the end of the first quarter. The moon now rapidly 
approaching the sun, resumes the crescent form, but this time with the 
horns pointing westward, the crescent becoming thinner and thinner, till tho 
moon reaches the position of new moon, and disappears. From “full 
moon” to “new moon,” the moon is said to be waning; and from “new 
moon” to “full moon,” ivaxing. The earth as seen from the moon presents 
similar phases, and has, consequently, at the time of new moon, the appear¬ 
ance of a round illuminated disc, and at full moon, is invisible. This ex¬ 
plains the peculiar phenomenon occasionally observed when the moon is 
near the sun (either before or after new moon), of the part of the moon’s 
face which is unilluminated by the sun appearing faintly visible, owing to 
the reflection upon it of strong earth-light. This phenomenon is designated 
by the Scottish peasantry as “ the new mune wi’ the auld mune in her 
airms.” At new moon the moon of course comes above the horizon about 
the same time as the sun, and sets with him, but rises each day about fifty 
minutes later than on the day previous, and at the end of the first quarter, 
rises at midday, and sets at midnight, continuing to lag behind the sun. 
When at the full, she rises about sunset, and sets about sunrise, and at the 
commencement, of her last quarter, she rises at midnight and sets at mid- 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE , 


403 


day. From repeated observations of the moon’s horizontal pai'aMfy and of 
the occulta tion by her of the fixed stars, her mean distance from the earth 
has been estimated at 237,600 miles, and as her angular diameter averages 
31' 26", her actual diameter is 2,153 miles, or a little less than 3-llths of 
the earth’s diameter. Her volume is therefore about 1-19th of that of the 
earth, and her density being only *577 (that of the earth beiDg taken as 
uuity), her mass is only l-88th of the earth’s mass; consequently, the force 
of gravity at her surface is so much less than it is at the surface of the 
earth, that a body which weighs one thousand pounds here, would at the 
moon weigh only one hundred and sixty-three pounds. 

The moon revolves round the earth in an elliptic orbit, with the earth in 
the focus; the eccentricity of the ellipse being equal to *05491 of half its 
major axis, or more than three and one-quarter times that of the earth’s 
orbit. The plane of her orbit does not coincide with the ecliptic, but is in¬ 
clined to it at an angle of 5° 8' 47*9", and intersects it in two opposite points, 
which are called the Nodes. The point at which the moon is nearest to the 
earth is called her perigee , and that at which she is farthest from it her 
apogee, and the line joining these two points is called the line of apsides. 
Were the moon’s orbit a true ellipse, which, owing to various irregularities 
known as perturbations, it is not, the lunar theory would be exceedingly 
simple; but these perturbations, which, in the case of the planets, produce 
a sensible variation in their orbit only after many revolutions, cause, in the 
case of the moon, a distinct and well-marked deviation from her previous 
course in a single revolution. The retrogradation of her nodes along the 
ecliptic causes a continual change in the plane of her orbit, so that if, during 
one revolution round the earth, she occults certain stars, at the next revolu¬ 
tion she will pass to one side of them, and will remove farther and farther 
from them in each successive revolution. A little consideration will show 
that by this continual change of her orbit, the moon will, in course of time, 
pass over or occult every star situated within 5° 24' 30" of the ecliptic. The 
motion of the nodes is so rapid that they perform a complete circuit of the 
orbit in 6793*39 mean solar days, or 18*6 years. Another important change 
in the moon’s orbit is the revolution of the line of apsides, by which the 
perigee and apogee are continually changing their position relative to the 
earth and sun. This revolution is more than twice as rapid as that of the 
nodes, being performed in 3232*57 mean solar days, or 8*85 solar years. 

The moon, like all other satellites, as far as at present known, revolves 
round her own axis in precisely the same time that she revolves round the 
earth; she thus presents always the same face to us, and consequently, 
though her comparative proximity has enabled us to become better ac¬ 
quainted with her surface than with that of any other heavenly body, our 
knowledge is confined to one-half of her surface, with the slight exception 
of the knowledge obtained from her libration. To the inhabitants of tho 
side of the moon next the earth—if the moon had inhabitants, which is very 
improbable—the latter would appear as a luminary about 2° in diameter, 
immovably fixed in their sky, or at least changing its position only to the 
extent due to the moon’s libration. The earth would thus seem to them to 
have a disc about fifteen times larger than that of the sun. 

The surface of the moon, as seen from the earth, presents a most irregu¬ 
lar grouping of light and shade. The dark portions were named by the 
earlier astronomers as seas, lakes, etc., and still retain these names, 
although there is strong evidence against the supposition that the moon, or 
at least that portion of it presented to us, contains any water. The brighter 


404 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


parts of the moon are mountainous, as is proved by the fact of their casting 
shadows when the sun’s rays fall upon them obliquely, and also by the 
ragged appearance presented by the interior illuminated border of the moon, 
an appearance which can only be satisfactorily accounted for on the supposi¬ 
tion that the surface of the moon is not level, in which case the higher por¬ 
tions will be illuminated some time before the light reaches the level parts; 
and it is observed that as the illumination proceeds, bright spots start up in 
advance of it, and when the moon is on the wane, these same spots continue 
to shine for some time after the surrounding surface is immersed in gloom. 
The mountains occur either singly, when they are generally of a circular 
form, and are called craters , or in groups, which are mostly annular, and 
form a sort of wall enclosing a deep depression or plain, in which are situ¬ 
ated one or more conical mountains. The craters are not unfrequently eight 
or ten miles in diameter, and some of the walled plains measure more than 
one hundred miles across. The principal mountain range is the Appenines, 
which crosses the surface from northeast to southwest, and attains, accord¬ 
ing to some authorities, an altitude of about twenty thousand feet, though 
Sir John Herschel gives about two miles as the probable limit of elevation 
above the moon’s surface. The heights are estimated from a micrometric 
measurement of the length of their shadows, a method not, in this case, 
susceptible of much accuracy. The moon everywhere presents traces of 
volcanic agency, but no active volcanoes have yet been discovered, nor is 
there any sign of recent volcanic action. Seen through the telescope she 
presents a bleak, desolate appearance, without indications of animal or veg¬ 
etable existence. She appears to be devoid of an atmosphere, or if one 
exists, it must be of exceeding rarity. 

The influence of the moon in causing tides has long been well known, 
and there is some reason for supposing that she produces a similar effect on 
the atmosphere, combining with other causes in the generation of winds. 
Those winds which prevail about the time of new and full moon, and at the 
vernal and autumnal equinoxes, are particularly ascribed to her influence. 
On the supposition that the moon might also affect organic nature, experi¬ 
ments were instituted by Mead, Hoffman and others ; but no certain results 
were attained. The periodicity which has often been noticed in certain dis¬ 
eases, especially in insanity (hence called lunacy ), was long supposed to 
have some connection with lunar influence, and this opinion is held to some 
extent at the present day. The chemical effects of the moon’s rays are, so 
far as is at present known, feeble, though in particular instances they ex¬ 
hibit an actinism as powerful as that of the sun. Decomposition of animal 
matter takes place more rapidly in moonshine than in darkness, and the 
moon’s rays, when concentrated, have a sensible effect on the thermometer. 

The Planets.—The planets are those heavenly bodies (including the 
fiarth) which belong to our solar system, and revolvein elliptic orbits round 
the sun. They are often denominated primary planets , to distinguish them 
from their moons or satellites, which are* called secondary planets. The 
name planet is of considerable antiquity, and w’as applied to these depend¬ 
ants of the sun to distinguish them from the myriads of luminous bodies 
which stud the sky, and which present to the naked eye no indication of 
change of place. The planets at present known are, in the order of their 
distance from the sun, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, the Planetoids, 
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Six of these, Mercury, Venus, the 
Hartk (whjph was^not, however, then reckoned a planet), Mars, Jupiter, 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


405 


and Saturn, were known to the ancients; Uranus was discovered by Sir 
William Herscliel in 1781; and Neptune, after having its position and ele¬ 
ments determined theoretically by Leverrier and Adams, was discovered by 
M. Challis, and afterwards by Dr. Galle, in 1846. The Planetoids, of which 
more than two hundred and twenty are now known, have all been discovered 
during the present century. Six of the planets, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, 
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are attended by one or more satellites; Ura¬ 
nus (generally), Neptune, almost the whole of the Planetoids, and all the 
satellites except the Moon, are invisible to the naked eye. The visible 
planets can be at once distinguished from the fixed stars by their clear 
steady light, while the latter have a sparkling or twinkling appearance. 
The comparative proximity of the planets may be proved by examining them 
through a telescope of moderate power, when they appear as round lumi¬ 
nous disks, while the fixed stars exhibit no increase of magnitude. The 
planets, as observed from the Earth, move sometimes from west to east, 
sometimes from east to west, and for some time remain stationary at the 
point where progression ends and retrogression commences. This irregu¬ 
larity in their movements was very puzzling to the ancient astronomers, 
who invented various hypotheses to account for it. The system of Coper¬ 
nicus, by assuming the sun, and not the Earth, as the center of the system, 
explained with admirable simplicity what seemed before a maze of confusion. 

The planetary orbits differ considerably in their degrees of eccentricity, 
the Planetoids, Mars, and Mercury being most, and the larger planets least 
eccentric. No two planets move exactly in the same plane, though, as a 
general rule, the planes of the larger planets most nearly coincide with 
that of the ecliptic. The latter are consequently always to be found within 
a small strip of the heavens extending on both sides of the ecliptic, while the 
others have a far wider range. According to Kepler’s Laws, the nearer the 
planet is to the sun the shorter is the time of its revolution. The arrange¬ 
ment of the planets in the solar system bears no known relation to their 
relative size or weight, for though Mercury, Venus, and the Earth follow 
the same order in size and distance from the sun, yet Mars, which is farther 
from the sun, is much less than either the Earth or Venus, and the Plan¬ 
etoids, which are still farther off, are the least of all. Jupiter, which is 
next in order, is by far the largest, being about one and one-half times as 
large as all the others together; and as we proceed farther outwards, the 
planets become smaller and smaller, Saturn being less than Jupiter, Uranus 
than Saturn, and Neptune than Uranus. 

With reference to their distance from the sun, as compared with that of 
the Earth, the planets are divided into superior and inferior; Mercury and 
Venus are consequently the only “ inferior ” planets, all the others being 
“ superior.” The inferior planets must always be on the same side of the 
Earth as the sun is, and can never be above the horizon of any place (not in 
a very high latitude) at midnight; they are always invisible at their superior 
and inferior conjunctions, except when, at the latter, a transit takes place. 
The superior planets are likewise invisible at conjunction, but when in op¬ 
position they are seen with the greatest distinctness, being then due south 
at midnight. The time which elapses from one conjunction to its corre¬ 
sponding conjunction is called the synodic pei'iod of a planet, and in the case 
of the inferior planets must always be greater than the true period of revo¬ 
lution. 

Mercury , the planet which is nearest the sun, is also, with the exception 
of the Planetoids, the smallest (being only three times the size of the moon), 


406 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


and performs its revolution round tlie sun in the shortest time. Its greatest 
elongation is never more than 28° 45', and consequently it is never above 
the horizon more than two hours after sunset, or the same time before sun¬ 
rise; on this account, and from its small apparent size (5" to 12"), it is sel¬ 
dom distinctly observable by the naked eye. It shines with a peculiarly 
vivid white or rose-colored light, and exhibits no spots. 

Venus , the next in order of distance and period, is to us the most brilliant 
of all the planets. Its orbit is more nearly a circle than any of the others, 
and when at its inferior conjunction, it approaches nearer the Earth than 
any other planet. Its apparent angular dimensions thence vary from 10" at 
the superior, to 70" at the inferior conjunction. Its greatest elongation varies 
from 45° to 47° 12', and therefore it can never be above the horizon for 
much more than three hours after sunset, or the same time before sunrise. 
While moving from the inferior to the superior conjunction, Venus is a 
morning star; and during the other half of its synodic period, an evening 
star. When this planet is at an elongation of 40°, its brilliancy is greatest, 
far surpassing that of the other planets, and rendering a minute examina¬ 
tion through the telescope impossible. At this period it sometimes becomes 
visible in the daytime, and after sunset is so bright as to throw a distinct 
shadow. Astronomers have repeatedly attempted to ascertain the nature 
and characteristics of its surface, bitt its brightness so dazzles the eyes as ta 
render the correctness of their observations at best doubtful. From the 
changes in the position of dusky patches on its surface, which have been 
frequently noticed, it is concluded that it revolves on its axis, and that its 
equator is inclined to the plane of its orbit at an angle of 75°; but many as¬ 
tronomers (Sir John Herschel included) profess to doubt these conclusions. 
Both Venus and Mercury necessarily exhibit phases like the moon. 

The Earth , the next planet in order, is described elsewhere; it has a 
single satellite, the Moon. 

Mars, the first of the superior planets, is much inferior in size to the 
two previous, its volume being about one-half of the Earth’s, and, after 
Mercury, its orbit is much more eccentric than those of the other planets. 
When it is nearest to the Earth (i. e., in opposition), its apparent angular 
diameter is 30"; but when farthest from it (i. e., in conjunction), its diam¬ 
eter is not more than 4". It shines with a fiery red light, and is a brilliant 
object in the heavens at midnight when near opposition; when seen through 
the telescope its surface appears to be covered with irregular blotches, some 
of them of a reddish, others of a greenish color, while at each pole is a spot 
of dazzling white. The red spots are surmised to be land; the green, water, 
while the white spots at the poles are with some reason supposed to be 
snow, since they decrease when most exposed to the sun, and increase 
under the contrary circumstances. Two small satellites of this planet were 
discovered in August, 1877. 

The Planetoids.— After Mars in order come the Planetoids , formerly, but 
improperly, called Asteroids. They are a numerous group of very small 
planets situated in the solar system between Mars and Jupiter. The num¬ 
ber now known is two hundred and twenty. They are believed to be frag¬ 
ments of one older planet; their distances from the sun are from 200,000,000 
to 300,000,000 miles, and the largest is not over three hundred miles in 
diameter. 

Jupiter, the next in order, is the largest of all the planets, its bulk being 
more than one thousand four hundred times that of the Earth, though, from 
its small density, its mass is only three hundred and thirty-eight times 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE , 


407 


more. After Venus it is the brightest of all the planets and the largest in 
apparent size, its angular diameter varying from 30" to 45". When looked 
at through a telescope, it is seen to be considerably flattened at the poles, 
owing to its rapid revolution on its own axis; and its surface is crossed in a 
direction parallel to its equator by three or four distinct and strongly-marked 
belts, and a few others of a varying nature. Spots also appear and remain 
for some time on its surface, by means of which its revolution on its axis has 
been ascertained. This planet is attended by four satellites, which are 
easily observable through an ordinary telescope, and which have rendered 
an immense service in the determination of longitudes at sea, and of the 
motion and velocity of light. The satellites, which were discovered by Gali¬ 
leo, were proved by Sir William Herschel to revolve on their own axes in 
the same time that they revolve round their primary. The smallest is 
about the same size as our moon, the others are considerably larger. 

Saturn , next in position, is about seven hundred and thirty-five times 
larger in volume, though only about one hundred times greater in mass 
than the Earth. Its apparent diameter when in opposition is 18", and there 
is a considerable flattening towards the poles. Its surface is traversed by 
dusky belts much less distinctly marked than those of Jupiter, owing doubt¬ 
less in great part to its inferior brightness; its general color is a dull white 
or yellowish, but the shaded portions, when seen distinctly, are of a glau¬ 
cous color. The most remarkable peculiarity of Saturn is its ring, or series 
of concentric rings, each one parallel and in the same plane with the others 
and with the planet’s equator; the rings are at present supposed to be three 
in number, the two outermost are bright like the planet itself, while the 
innermost is of a purplish color, and is only discernible through a powerful 
telescope. The rings are not always visible when Saturn is in the “ oppo¬ 
site ” half of its orbit, for when the plane of the rings is intermediate be¬ 
tween that of the Earth’s orbit and of the ecliptic, their dark surface is turned 
towards us, and when the sun is in their plane only the narrow edge is illu¬ 
mined; in both of these cases the ring is invisible from the Earth. Its plane 
being inclined at an angle of 28’ to the ecliptic, we see the two surfaces of 
the ring alternately for periods of fifteen years at a time; and at the middle 
of each'period, the rings attain their maximum obliquity to the ecliptic, and 
are then best seen from the Earth. It is hardly necessary to remark that at 
the end of each period they become invisible. Saturn has also no less than 
eight satellites, seven of which revolve round it in orbits little removed from 
the plane of the ring, while the eighth, which is the second in size, is con¬ 
siderably inclined to it. The satellites are all situated outside of the ring, 
and the largest of them is nearly equal to the planet Mars in size. 

Uranus, the next planet in position, was discovered accidentally by the 
elder Herschel, on March 13, 1781, and was named “ the Georgium Sidus ” 
and “ Herschel,” but these names soon fell into disuse. It is about ninety- 
six (some astronomers say eighty-two) times greater than the Earth in volume 
and twenty (according toothers, fifteen) times in mass; but though so large, 
its distance is so much greater in proportion that astronomers have been un¬ 
able to gain much information concerning it. No spots or belts have hitherto 
been discovered on its surface, and consequently its time of rotation and the 
position of its axis are unknown. It is attended by a number of satellites, 
but so minute do these bodies appear, that astronomers hitherto have been 
unable to agree as to their exact number; Sir William Herschel reckoned 
six, while other astronomers believe in the existence of four, five, and eight 
respectively. That there are at least four is without doubt. 


40$ CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

Neptane-is thenext and outermost member of the solar system, and, at a 
distance of.nearly 3,000,000,000 miles from the center of the system, slowly 
performs its revolution round the sun, accomplishing the complete circuit 
in about 165 solar years. It is about 84 times larger than the Earth, but 
from its extreme remoteness is of almost inappreciable magnitude when 
seen through an ordinary telescope. It was the disturbance in the motion 
of Uranus caused by the attractive force of this planet which led Leverrier 
and Adams to a calculation of its size and position, on the supposition of its 
existence; and the directions which were given by the former to Dr. Galle, 
of Berlin, specifying its exact position in the heavens, led that astronomer 
to its discovery on September 23, 1846. Mr. Lassell, of Liverpool, has dis¬ 
covered that Neptune is attended by one satellite. The satellites of Uranus 
and Neptune differ from the other planets, primary and secondary, in the 
direction of their motion, which is from east to west, and in the case of the 
former, in planes nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. Both Uranus and 
Neptune were observed long before the times of Herschel and Leverrier, but 
they were always supposed to be stars. Uranus is known to have been ob¬ 
served by Flamsteed between 1690 and 1715, and Neptune by Lalande 
in 1795. 

The Stars.—Stars are distinguished from planets by remaining appar¬ 
ently immovable with respect to one another, and hence they were early 
called fixed stars, a name which they still retain, although their perfect fix¬ 
ity has been completely disproved in numerous cases, and is no longer be¬ 
lieved in regard to any. Twinkling, or scintillation, is another mark which 
distinguishes stars from planets. 

The first thing that strikes the observer is the apparent daily motions of 
the stars. The greater part appear to rise in the east, describe smaller or 
greater arcs in the heavens, and set in the west; while others describe com¬ 
plete circles round a point north of the zenith, that described by the so- 
called polar star being the smallest visible to the naked eye. These ap¬ 
parent motions arise from the rotation of the earth on its axis. Had the 
earth only this rotary motion, the aspect of the starry heavens at any spot 
on tne earth’s surface would be the same at the same hour of the night all 
the year round; which is known not to be the case. In consequence of the 
earth’s motion round the sun, or the apparent advance of the sun among 
the stars, the aspect of the heavens at a particular hour is always changing. 
The same position of the stars recurs four minutes earlier each night, and 
only at the same time after the lapse of a year. 

With few exceptions, the distance of the fixed stars is still unknown, and 
must in all be enormously great. Since the time of Bradley, many attempts 
have been made to measure what is called the yearly parallax of the stars, 
and thus determine their distances. When we consider that the motion of 
the earth round the sun brings us at one time a whole diameter of its orbit 
(184 millions of miles) nearer to a particular region of the heavens than we 
were six months before, we should expect a change in the relative distances 
of the stars as seen from the two points—that as we approach them they 
should seem to separate. But no such change is seen to take place; and 
this was one of the early objections to the theory of Copernicus* The only 
answer that the Copernicans could give was, that the distance of the stars 
from us is so great that the diameter of the earth’s orbit is as a point com¬ 
pared with it. The detection of the parallax of the fixed stars depended 
upon the perfection of instruments. The parallax of a star is the minute 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


409 


angle contained by two lines drawn from it, the one to the sun, the other to 
the earth. If that angle amounted to a second, the distance of the star 
would be 206,000 times that of the sun; and when the measurement of 
angles came to be reliable to a second, and still no parallax was discernible, 
astronomers could say that the distance of the nearest stars must be more 
than 206,000 times that of the sun—i. e., 206,000 times ninety-two millions of 
miles, or about twenty billions of miles. It is only since between 1832 and 
1838 that anything like positive determinations of parallax have been made, 
chiefly by Henderson, Bessel, and Peters. The first published (Dec., 1833) 
was that of the double star sixty-one in the constellation of the Swan, by 
Bessel, who made the parallax 0"-37, giving a distance over 650,000 times 
that of the sun, or fifty-two billions of miles, so that the light of this star is 
about eight and two-thirds years m reaching the earth. The nearest of all 
the stars yet measured is a Centauri, the finest double star in the southern 
heavens, whose parallax was determined by Henderson and Maclear at the 
Cape of Good Hope to be 0”‘9128 (the observations were made in 1832-1833; 
the result read before the Astronomical Society, Jan., 1839), or as subse¬ 
quently corrected, 0"’976, corresponding to a distance of about twenty billions 
of miles, and requiring three and one-third years for its light to reach us. To 
Sirius, the brightest of the stars, a parallax of 0"T5, has been assigned, im¬ 
plying a distance six times that of a Centauri. It has been considered 
probable, from recondite investigations, that the average distance of a star 
of the first magnitude from the earth is 986,000 radii of our annual orbit, a 
distance which light would require fifteen and one-half years to traverse; 
and further, that the average distance of a star of the sixth magnitude (the 
smallest distinctly seen without a telescope) is 7,600,000 times the same 
unit—to traverse which, light, with its prodigious velocity, would occupy 
more than one hundred and twenty years. If, then, the distances of the 
majority of stars visible to the naked eye are so enormously great, how are 
we to estimate our distance from those minute points of light discernible 
only in powerful telescopes ? The conclusion is forced upon us that we do 
not see them as they appeared within a few years, or even during the life¬ 
time of man, but with rays which proceeded from them several thousands 
of years ago! 

The star3 have been divided into groups called Constellations from the 
earliest times. The several stars belonging to the same constellation are 
distinguished from one another by Greek letters, beginning the alphabet 
with the brightest; and when these are not sufficient, by Roman letters and 
by numbers. Many of the most brilliant stars have special names. They 
are also divided according to their brightness into stars of the first, sec¬ 
ond, third, etc., magnitudes—a division which is necessarily somewhat ar¬ 
bitrary. The smallest stars discernible by a naked eye of ordinary power 
are usually called stars of the fifth magnitude; but an usually sharp eye 
can discern those of the sixth and even seventh magnitude. All below are 
telescopic stars, which are divided in a very undetermined way down to the 
twentieth magnitude. Sir J. Herschel has determined that the light of Sirius, 
the brightest of all the stars, is 324 times that of a mean star of the sixth 
magnitude. By processes of photometric observation and reasoning, it is 
concluded that the intrinsic splendor a Centauri is more than twice that of 
our sun, and that of Sirius 394 times. Among stars of the first magnitude 
in the northern hemisphere are usually reckoned Aldebaran (in Taurus), 
Arcturus (in Bootes), Atair (in Aquila), Betelgeux (in Orion), Capella (in 
Auriga), Procyon (in Canis Minor), Regulus (in Leo,) Yega (in Lyra), In 


410 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


the southern hemisphere are Achernes (in Eridanus), Antares (in Scor¬ 
pio), Canopus (in Argo), Bigel (in Orion), Sirius (in Canis Major), Spica (in 
Virgo), and a Centaur i and a Crucis that have no special names. 

No apparent magnitude, in the proper sense of the word, has yet been 
observed in any star. In the best and most powerful magnifying telescopes, 
even the brightest stars of the first magnitude appear, not with small discs 
as all the planets do, but as luminous points without any visible diameter, 
and always the smaller the better the telescope. We are therefore totally 
ignorant of the real size of the fixed stars; nor could it be determined 
though we were sure of their distances, for the apparent diameter is an es¬ 
sential element in the calculation. We cannot, then, say whether the 
greater brilliancy of one star, when compared with another, arises from its 
greater nearness, its greater size, or the greater intensity of its light. It is 
certaiu that all the fixed stars are self-luminous. By the spectroscope sev¬ 
eral facts regarding their physical constitution have been made out; there 
are great differences in their spectra; the existence of several known ele¬ 
ments is considered demonstrated. Sirius contains hydrogen, sodium, and 
magnesium. 

The number of the stars is beyond determination. Those visible by the 
naked eye amount only to a few thousands. Stars of the first magnitude 
are usually reckoned at 15 to 20, of the second at 50 to 60, of the third about 
200, of the fourth at 400 to 500, of the fifth at 1100 to 1200. But in the follow¬ 
ing classes the numbers increase rapidly, so that stars of the sixth and 
seventh class amount to above 12,000. Stars are most dense in that region 
of the heavens called the Milky Way, which is mostly composed of stars of 
the eleventh and twelfth magnitude. W. Herschel observed 116,000 stars 
pass the field of his telescope in a quarter of an hour, -while directed to the 
densest part of the Milky Way. 

That the fixed stars are not really immovable, as their name would im¬ 
ply, is seen in the phenomenon of Double or Multiple Stars , which are sys¬ 
tems of two cr more stars that revolve about one another, or rather about 
their common center of gravity. As they can be seen separate only by 
means of a telescope, and in most cases require a very powerful one, their 
discovery was possible only after the telescope was invented. Galileo him¬ 
self discovered their existence, and proposed to make use of them in deter¬ 
mining the yearly parallax of the fixed stars. After a long lapse of time, 
Bradley, Maskelyne, and Mayer again directed attention to the phenomena 
of double stars; but nothing important was made out respecting them till 
the elder Herschel made them the subject of a protracted series of observa¬ 
tions which led to the most remarkable conclusions as to their nature. The 
united observations of Struve, Savarv, Encke, South, and especially those of 
Herschel the younger, continued for four years in the southern hemisphere 
at the Cape of Good Hope, have raised the number of observed double, or 
rather multiple, stars to more than 6,000, of which the greater part are 
binary, or composed of two, but many are triple, some quadruple, and a 
few even quintuple, or consisting of five stars. The distance between the 
stars composing these systems is always apparently small (varying from 
less than 1" up to 32”); but apparent nearness does not always constitute a 
double star, for two really distant stars are not unfrequentlv so nearly in 
the same line, as seen from the earth, that they appear to be close together. 
In real multiple stars, the individuals are not only comparatively near to one 
another, but they revolve around one another. Among stars of the first 
three magnitudes, every sixth is a multiple star; among the smaller stars 


FA MIL IA U $ GIF X C IF 


411 


tlie proportion is much less. In some cases, one of the stars is much larger 
than the other, as in the star Rigel in Orion, and in the polar star; but 
oftener the connected stars are nearly equal in luminous power. The two 
members of double stars are mostly of one color, but a difference of color is 
observed in about one-fifth of the whole number. In many of these cases, 
the one color is the complement of the other, and it is possible that the 
color of the smaller star may be subjective, arising from the action of the 
other upon the eye. 

Several stars exhibit well-marked periodic alterations of a striking nature, 
and are hence called variable stars. A considerable number have been ob¬ 
served, of which the most remarkable are Mira (the “ wonderful”) in Cetus, 
and Algol in Perseus. The first attains its greatest lustre every 334 days, 
and appears for fourteen days as a star of the second, and even at times of 
the first magnitude; it then decreases for two or three months, till it be¬ 
comes of the sixth and even tenth magnitude, so as to be for half a year in¬ 
visible to the naked eye and usually to telescopes. After this it begins 
again to increase, but more rapidly than it decreased. It is visible to the 
naked eye for three or four months of its period. Of all the variable stars 
yet observed in Perseus, Algol has the shortest period, being sixty-eight 
hours forty-nine minutes. It appears for about sixty hours a star of the 
second magnitude, then decreases for four hours, and appears for a quarter 
of an hour of the fourth magnitude, after which it increases again for four 
hours. Various explanations have been offered of these mysterious appear¬ 
ances; the stars are supposed to turn on their axis, and to have their sur¬ 
faces equally luminous in different places; or a large dark body is assumed 
to be revolving about the luminous one, so as to intercept more or less of 
its light in different positions; or the stars are lens-shaped, etc. There is 
nothing, however, inadmissible in the supposition that the intensity of the 
light itself may vary; and if in other suns, why not in our own ? 

Allied to the variable stars are the nev) or temporary stars that appear 
suddenly in great splendor, and then disappear without leaving a trace. A 
number of instances are on record. It is not impossible that these also may 
be periodic. 

From the appearances connected with the Milky Way or Galaxy, Sir W. 
Herschel came to the conclusion that the stars forming our firmament do 
not extend indefinitely into space, but are limited in all directions, the mass 
having a definite shape. He conceived the shape to be something like that 
of a huge millstone, having one side cleft, and the two laminae set apart at 
a small angle. This supposition accounts for the appearance of the Milky 
Way, and all subsequent observations have tended to confirm the conjec¬ 
ture. Situated as we are within the system, we cannot hope ever to attain 
more than a rude notion regarding it; to get a definite outline, we must be 
placed without it. 

But this star system, which we may call our own, as our sun belongs to 
it, is but an item in the stellar universe. The appearances known as 
nebulae, in many cases at least, are believed to be similar agglomerations of 
suns, separated from our system and from one another by unfathomable stain¬ 
less intervals. Their forms are very various, but in general pretty well de¬ 
fined and not without symmetry. The aspect of some of them is even startling. 

Comets.—The word comet is derived from the Gr. home , hair, a title 
which had its origin in the hairy appearance often exhibited by the haze or 
luminous vapor, the presence of w 7 hich is at first sight the most striking 


412 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


characteristic of the celestial bodies called by this name. The general fea¬ 
ture of a comet are—a definite point or nucleus, a nebulous light surround¬ 
ing the nucleus, and a luminous train preceding or following the nucleus. 
Anciently, when the train preceded the nucleus—as is the case when a 
comet has passed its perihelion and recedes from the sun--it was called the 
beard, being only termed the tail when seen following the nucleus as the 
sun is approached. This distinction has disappeared from all modern as¬ 
tronomical works, and the latter name is given to the appendage, whatever 
its apparent position. Neither this luminous attendant, the tail, nor the 
nucleus, is now considered an essential cometary element, but all bodies 
are classed as comets which have a motion of their own and describe orbits 
of an extremely elongated form. There are several plain points of differ¬ 
ence between comets and planets. The planets move in the same direction, 
from west to east, which is astronomically called “ direct motion; ” but the 
movements of comets are often from east to west, or retrograde. The orbits 
of all the planets are confined to a zone of no great breadth on either side 
of the ecliptic; but the paths of comets cut the ecliptic in every direction, 
some being even perpendicular to it. The orbits of all the planets are nearly 
circular; or, more properly speaking, are ellipses of very small eccentricity. 
The orbits of comets, on the other hand, present every variety of eccen¬ 
tricity, some of them being ellipses or elongated closed orbits of various de¬ 
grees of elongation; others, hyperbolas; while the majority have a form of 
orbit not differing sensibly from the parabola, which is the limiting form of 
curve to which both the ellipse and hyperbola approximate under given 
conditions. 

The discovery that comets are celestial bodies, extraneous to our at¬ 
mosphere, is due to Tycho Brahe, who ascertained the fact by observations 
of the comet of 1557. Newton succeeded in demonstrating that they are 
guided in their movements by the same principle which controls the planets 
in their orbits; and Halley was the first, by determining the parabolic ele¬ 
ments of a number of comets from the recorded observations, to identify the 
comet of 1682 with one which had been observed in 1607 and the observa¬ 
tions recorded by Kepler and Longomontanus, and also with a comet ob¬ 
served in 1531 by Apian, at Ingolstadt, and thus confidently to predict the 
return, at the end of 1758 or beginning of 1759, of a comet which would have 
the same parabolic elements. 

The celebrated comet of 1680, which furnished Newton with the occasion 
for proving that comets revolve around the sun in conic sections, and that, 
consequently, they are retained in their orbits by the same force as that 
which regulates the movements of the planets, appears to have been about 
the most remarkable for brilliancy of any of which we have authentic 
accounts. This comet is supposed to be identical with the one that appeared 
about the time of Csesar’s death (44 b.c.), with that which was seen in the 
reign of Justinian in the year 531, and with another in the year 1106, in the 
reign of Henry II, the period of revolution, according to the orbit calculated 
for it by Whiston, being about 575 years. There is, however, some doubt 
among astronomers as to the real form of its orbit, the one assigned to it by 
Encke giving it a period of 8,813 years. This comet approached nearer to 
the sun than any known, except perhaps the comet of 1843, the calculation 
of whose perihelion distance, from the paucity of observations, has little 
certainty. The comet of 1680 approached the sun within the 163d of the 
semi-diameter of the earth’s orbit. The tail of a comet is nearly always 
away from the sun, frequently assuming a curved form. It increases in 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


413 


length with its proximity to the sun, but does not acquire its greatest length 
till after passing the perihelion. These are usual characteristics of comets, 
which were exemplified by this one in a remarkable degree. These 
phenomena might be accounted for if we were to regard the train as vapor¬ 
ization produced by the intense heat to which the body of the comet is 
exposed in its approach to the sun. 

In the preseni century, the comets most remarkable for brilliancy have 
been the comet of 1811, that of 1843, that of 1858, and that of 1882. 

Spectroscopic investigation, so far as yet pursued, points to the conclu¬ 
sion that the nucleus is self-luminous, but that the tail shines *vith reflected 
light. It has been discovered recently, m determining the tracks of those 
streams of dark bodies that cause meteoric showers, that some of the tracks 
coincide with the orbits of well-known comets. From this, it is inferred 
that star showers and comets may be only different manifestations of the 
same thing. 

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights.— This is the name 
given to the luminous phenomenon which is seen towards the north of the 
heavens by the inhabitants of the higher latitudes. During the winter of 
the northern hemisphere, the inhabitants of the arctic zone are without the 
light of the sun for months together, and their long, dreary night is relieved 
by the light of this beautiful meteor, which occurs with great frequency in 
these regions. Those who have explored the southern seas have seen the 
same phenomenon in the direction of the south pole, so that the term polar 
lights might be more appropriate than northern lights to designate the 
aurora. The appearance of the aurora borealis has been described by a 
great variety of observers, all of whom give substantially the same account 
of the manner in which the phenomenon takes place. It is briefly as fol¬ 
lows: A dingy aspect of the sky in the direction of the north is generally the 
precursor of the aurora; and this gradually becomes darker in color, and 
assumes the form of a circular segment surrounded by a luminous arch, and 
resting at each end on the horizon. This dark segment , as it is called, has 
the appearance of a thick cloud, and is frequently seen as such in the fading 
twilight before the development of the auroral light. Its density must, 
however, be very small, as stars are sometimes seen shining brightly 
through it. This dark segment is bounded by a luminous arch of a bluish- 
white color, which varies in breadth from one to six diameters of the moon, 
having the lower edge sharply defined, and the upper edge only when the 
breadth of the arch is small. This arch may be considered to be a part of 
a luminous ring elevated at a considerable distance above the earth’s sur¬ 
face, and having its center corresponding with some point near the north 
pole. An observer several degrees south of this auroral ring would see 
towards the north only a small arc of it, the larger part being hid by the 
earth; to one situated not so far south, it would appear as a larger and 
higher arch; to one placed below it, it would be seen as an arch passing 
through the zenith; and to one situated within the ring and farther north, 
it would be found as an arch culminating in the south. On this supposition, 
nearly all the various positions of the auroral arch may be accounted for. 
The center of the ring corresponds probably with the magnetic north, which 
is at present situated in the island of Bootliia-Felix. Hence it is that in 
Greenland, which is situated to the east of this island, the auroral arch has 
been seen stretching from north to south, with its highest point in the west. 
The luminous arch, once formed, remains visible for several hours, and is 


414 


f L0 


r IA' OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


in a constant state of motion. It rises and falls, extends towards the east 
and towards the west, and breaks sometimes in one part, and sometimes in 
another. These motions become all the more observable when the arch is 
about to shoot forth rays; then it becomes luminous at one point, eats in 
upon the dark segment, and a ray of similar brightness to the arch mounts 
with the rapidity of lightning towards the zenith. The ray seldom keeps 
the same form for any length of time; but undergoes continual changes, 
moving eastward and westward, and fluttering like a ribbon agitated by the 
wind. After some time, it gradually fades in brightness, aud at last gives 
way to other rays. When the aurora attains its full brightness and activity, 
rays are projected from every part of the arch, and if they do not rise too 
high, it presents the appearance of a comb furnished with teeth. When the 
rays are very bright, they sometimes assume a green, sometimes a violet, a 
purple, or a rose color, giving to the whole a variegated and brilliant effect. 
When the rays darted by the luminous arch are numerous and of great 
length, they culminate in a point which is situated in the prolongation of 
the dipping-needle, somewhat southeast of the zenith. There they form 
what is called the boreal ci'oum; and the whole heavens, towards the east, 
west and north present the appearance of a vast cupola of fire, supported by 
columns of variously colored light. When the rays are darted less brilliantly, 
the crown first disappears, then, here and there, the light becomes faint and 
intermittent, till at last the whole phenomenon fades from the sky. 

The intimate connection between the aurora borealis and the magnetism 
of the earth is shown by various facts. During the occurrence of the phe¬ 
nomenon, the magnetic needle appears very much disturbed, sometimes 
deviating several degrees from its normal position, and appearing to be 
most affected when the aurora is brightest; aud this oscillation is frequently 
perceived far beyond the district where the aurora is seen. The vertex, 
likewise, of the luminous arch is almost always found to be in or very near 
the magnetic meridian, and the boreal crown lias its seat in the prolongation 
of the freely suspended needle. There seems, moreover, to be a connection 
between the magnetic poles of the earth in regard to the aurora, for, so far 
as has been ascertained, the meteor occurs simultaneously at both. The 
aurora borealis appears to be an electric discharge connected with mag¬ 
netic disturbance. If one of Gassiot’s vacuous tubes be brought near an 
electric machine, or between the poles of an induction coil, flashes of light 
pass between the ends, which bear a striking resemblance to the aurora 
borealis. A comparison of the spectra of the two goes far to establish 
identity. The auroral spectral line, according to Angstrom, is a yellow line 
near the sodium line, and is the same as the air line seen in the solar light 
when the sun is near the horizon. Other lines, however, have been seen, 
which cannot as yet be produced by the physicist from any known sub¬ 
stance. 

Sound.—Sound is the impression produced on the ear by the vibrations 
of the elastic medium, such as air or water, in which it is plunged. That 
this is the case is proved, first, by the fact that a bell or tuning fork in 
vacuo gives no sound when struck, second, by the fact that mere currents, 
as such (winds, running water, etc.) du not produce the sensation of sound 
until they are frittered down into vibratory motion by obstacles. 

The most untutored ear distinguishes at once between a mere noise and a 
musical note. It of course distinguishes a loud sound from a faiut one. 
Moreover, it distinguishes musical notes from one another by their ehrill- 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


415 


ness or gravity, or, as it is technically called, their pitch. Again, as in the 
case of vowel-sounds sung to the same musical note, or, as in the case of 
different instruments (flute and violin, for instance) playing the same note, 
it distinguishes something further—which is called the quality of the note. 
It is on the pitch of notes that the theory of music is based, for the quality 
is only of importance in giving variety, as in orchestral music—or in giving 
richness of tone in a solo. The most perfect music, so far as theory goes, 
may be executed on the poorest instrument, but it gives little pleasure, from 
the want of richness or quality. In the same way a singer may possess 
faultless intonation, yet the performance, though musically perfect, may, 
from the harsh quality of the voice, be unpleasant. We intend, in the pres¬ 
ent article, to avoid everything connected with music, and have made these 
remarks to show that there is something in the theory of sound more pro¬ 
found than is contemplated in the theory of music. 

The questions we have now to discuss are: 

1. What constitutes the difference between a mere noise and a musical 
note ? 

2. On what does the pitch of a note depend ? 

3. On what does its quality depend ? 

The answers to these queries are all contained in the following statement: 

“ Every musical note consists in the repetition, at equal small intervals 
of time, of some definite noise; the pitch depends on the rate of repetition; 
and the quality upon the nature of the fundamental noise.” 

If, for instance, the edge of a card be held to a revolving toothed-wheel, 
a definite noise is produced as each tooth bends the card and allows it to 
spring back. While the wheel revolves slowly, we can distinguish these 
successive noises; but w r hen it is revolving so fast that they are no longer 
separately distinguishable, the character of the sound changes completely. 
It now becomes continuous, and, so far as the ear can detect, uniform, and 
thus becomes a musical note. As the wheel is made to revolve faster and 
faster, the pitch of the note rises, til.' it becomes a sort of shriek, and finally 
becomes inaudible. The “ Sirene ” gives another excellent illustration. In 
this case, the fundamental noise is produced by a puff of air escaping from 
an orifice; and we observe, just as before, that the greater the number of 
such puffs per second, after they have become so frequent as to be sepa¬ 
rately undistinguishable, the higher is the nitch of the musical note pro¬ 
duced. 

Now, if by machinery we arrange matters jo that the sirene and the 
toothed-wheel give the number of puffs and the number of impacts on the 
card the same per second, the musical note produced by each has the same 
pitch. But the notes differ greatly in quality, the one being exceedingly 
soft and pleasant, and other harsh and grating. The pitch, therefore, de¬ 
pends on the number of noises per second, and the quality upon the nature 
of the fundamental noise. 

As the velocity of sound is ten times greater than that of wind in the 
most violent hurricane, it is not oir itself which is transferred from place to 
place, but a state of disturbance (condensation or rarefaction) of the air. 
Each successive layer of air in the path of the sound suffers this disturbance 
in turn, and by virtue of its elasticity, passes it on to the next. 

Newton was the first who attempted to deduce from mechanical princi¬ 
ples the velocity of sound, but only for the particular case in which each 
particle of air, in the path of the sound, is supposed to move backwards and 
norwards according' to the same law as the bob of a pendulum. lie showed 


416 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 


that this species of motion is consistent with the elastic properties of air, as 
given by Boyle’s or Mariotte’s Law, viz., that the pressure of air is propor¬ 
tional to its density. The velocity of sound in this case is of course to be 
found from the time which elapses between the commencement of the motion 
of any one particle of air, and that of another at a given distance from it, 
in the direction in which the sound is moving. The numerical result de¬ 
duced by Newton with the then received experimental data for the com¬ 
pressibility of aii’, was 979 feet per second. This investigation was very 
defective, applying, in fact, solely to the special case of a pure musical note, 
continually propagated without lateral divergence; yet the solution obtained 
by Lagrange from a complete analysis of the question, gave precisely the 
same mathematical result. 

But, by direct measurements, carefully made, by observing at night the 
interval which elapses between the flash and the report of a cannon at a 
known distance, the velocity of sound has been found to be considerably 
greater—in fact, about 1,090 feet per second, at the temperature of freezing 
water. 

Newton seeks for the cause of this discrepancy between theory and ob¬ 
servation in the idea that the size of the particles of air is finite compared 
with their mutual distance; and that sound is instantaneously propagated 
through the particles themselves. 

This is not one of Newton’s happiest conjectures—for, independent of the 
fact that such an assumption would limit definitely the amount of com¬ 
pression which air could undergo, and, besides, is quite inconsistent with 
the truth of Boyle’s law for even moderate pressure, it would result from it 
that sound should travel slower in rarefied, and quicker in condensed air. 
Now, experiment shows that the velocity of sound is unaffected by the 
height of the barometer; and, indeed, it is easy to see that this ought to be 
the case. For in condensed air the pressures are increased proportionally 
to the increase of condensation, and the mass of a given bulk of air is in¬ 
creased in the same proportion. Hence, in a sound-wave in condensed air, 
the forces andr the masses are increased proportionally, and thus the rate 
of motion is unaltered. But the temperature of the air has an effect on 
sound, since we know that the elastic force is increased by heat, even when 
the density is not diminished; and therefore the velocity of sound increases 
with the temperature at the rate of about 4^ feet per Fahrenheit degree as 
is found by experiment. 

Newton’s explanation of the discrepancy between theory and experiment 
being thus set aside, various suggestions were made to account for it; some, 
among whom was Euler, imagining that the mathematical methods em¬ 
ployed, being only approximate, involved a serious error. 

The explanation was finally given by Laplace, and is simple and satis¬ 
factory. When air is suddenly compressed (as it is by the passage of a 
sound-wave), it is heated; when suddenly rarefied, it is cooled, and this 
effect is large enough to introduce a serious modification into the mathe¬ 
matical investigations. The effect is in either case to increase the forces at 
work—for, when compressed, and consequently heated, the pressure is 
greater than that due to the mere compression—and, when rarefied, and 
consequently cooled, the pressure is diminished by more than the amount 
due to the mere rarefaction. When this source of error is removed, the 
mathematical investigation gives a result as nearly agreeing with that of 
observation as is consistent with the unavoidable errors of all experimental 
data. It is to be observed that, in noticing this investigation, nothing has 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


417 


been sait, as to the pitch or quality of the sound, for these have nothing to 
do with the velocity. It must, however, be remarked here that, in the 
mathematical investigation, the compressions and rarefactions are assumed 
to be very small; i. e., the sound is supposed to be of moderate intensity. 
It does not follow, therefore, that very violent sounds have the same velocity 
as moderate ones, and many curious observations made during thunder¬ 
storms seem to show that such violent sounds are propagated with a greatly 
increased velocity. It is recorded that in one of Parry’s arctic voyages, 
during gun-practice, the officer’s command “ Fire,” was heard at great dis¬ 
tances across the ice after the report of the gun. 

Since sound consists in a wave-propagation, we should expect to find it 
exhibit all the ordinary phenomena of waves. Thus, for instance, it is 
reflected according to the same law as light. It is refracted in passing from 
one medium to another of different density or elasticity. This has been 
proved by concentrating in a focus the feeble sound of the ticking of a 
watch, aud rendering it audible at a considerable distance, by means of a 
lens of collodion films filled with carbonic acid gas. 

Sounds interfere to reinforce each other, or to produce silence; just as 
the crest of one wave may be superposed on the crest of another, or may 
apparently destroy all motion by filling up its trough. The simplest mode 
of showing this is to hold near the ear a vibrating tuning-fork and turn it 
slowly round its axis. In some positions, the sounds from the two branches 
reinforce, in others they weaken, each other. But if, while the sound is 
almost inaudible, an obstacle be interposed between the ear and one of the 
branches, the sound is heard distinctly. 

To give an idea of the diminution of loudness or intensity of a sound at 
a distance from its source, let us consider a series of spherical waves di¬ 
verging from a point. The length of a wave, as we know from the theory, 
does not alter as it proceeds. Hence, if we consider any one spherical 
wave, it will increase in radius with the velocity of sound, but its thickness 
will remain unaltered. The same disturbance is thus constantly transferred 
to masses of air greater and greater in proportion to the surface of the 
spherical wave, and therefore the amount in a given bulk (say a cubic inch) 
of air will be inversely proportional to this surface. B\ t the surface of 
spheres are as the squares of their radii—hence the disturbance in a given 
mass of air, i. e., the loudness of the sound, is inversely as the square of the 
distance from the source. This follows at once from the law of conservation 
of energy, if we neglect the portion which is constantly being frittered down 
into heat by fluid friction. All sounds, even in the open air, much more 
rapidly in rooms, are extinguished ultimately by conversion into an equiva¬ 
lent of heat. Hence sounds really diminish in intensity at a greater rate 
than that of the inverse square of the distance; though there are cases on 
record in which sounds have been heard at distances of nearly 200 miles. 
But if, as in speaking-tubes and speaking-trumpets, sound be prevented 
from diverging in spherical waves, the intensity is diminished only by fluid 
notion, and thus the sound is audible at a much greater distance, but of 
course it is confined mainly to a particular direction. 

As already remarked, the purest sounds are those given by a tuning- 
fork, which (by Jos laws of the vibration of elastic solids) vibrates according 
to the same law as a pendulum, and communicates exactly the same mode 
of vibration to the air. If two precisely similar tuning-forks be vibrating 
with equal energy beside each other, we may have either a sound of double 
;he intensity, or anything less, to perfect silence, according to their relative 


418 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


phases. If the branches of both be at their greatest elongations simultane¬ 
ously, we have a doubled intensity—if one be at its widest, and the other 
at its narrowest, simultaneously, we have silence, for the condensation pro¬ 
duced by one is exactly annihilated by the rarefaction produced by the 
other, and vice versa. But if the branches of one be loaded with a little 
wax so as to make its oscillations slightly slower, it will gradually fall be¬ 
hind the other in its motion, and we shall have in succession every grade of 
intensity from the double of either sound to silence. The effect will be a 
periodic swelling and dying away of the sound, and this period will be 
longer the more nearly the two forks vibrate in the same time. This phe¬ 
nomenon is called a beat, and we see at once from what precedes, that it 
affords an admirable criterion of a perfect unison, that is, of two notes whose 
pitch is the same. It is easy to see, by the same kind of reasoning, that if 
two forks have their times of vibration nearly as 1: 2, 2: 3, etc.—i. e., any 
simple numerical ratio—there will be greater intervals between the beats 
according as the exact ratio is more nearly arrived at. 

Light. —Light is the subject of the science of optics. Every one knows 
that light diverges from a luminous center in all directions, and that its 
transmission in any direction is straight. It travels with great velocity, 
which has been ascertained, by observations on the eclipses of Jupiter’s 
satellites and other means, to be 186,000 miles per second. Shadows are a 
result of its straight transmission; and it follows from its diverging in all 
directions from a luminous center, that its intensity diminishes inversely as 
the square of the distance from the center. When it falls on the surfaces of 
bodies, it is reflected from them, regularly or irregularly, totally or partially, 
or is partly or wholly transmitted or refracted through them. The facts of 
observation on which catoptrics is founded are two: 1. in the reflection of 
light, the incident ray, the normal to the surface, and the reflected ray are 
in one plane; 2. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. 
Similar to these are the physical laws on which dioptrics is founded. When 
a ray of homogeneous light is incident on a refracting surface: 1. The in¬ 
cident and refracted ray lie in the same plane as the normal at the point of 
incidence, and on opposite sides of it; 2. The side of the angle of incidence, 
whatever that angle may be, bears, to the angle of refraction, a ratio de¬ 
pendent only on the nature of the media between which the refraction takes 
place, and on the nature of the light. In stating these laws, we have hinted 
at light being of different kinds. At one time it was not supposed that 
color had anything to do with light; now, there is no serious dispute but 
that there are lights of different colors with different properties, though 
obeying the same general laws. 

Two hypotheses have been advanced to explain the different phenomena 
of light, viz.: the theory of emission, or the corpuscular theory, and the 
theory of vibration, or the undulatory theory. According to the former, 
light is an attenuated imponderable substance, whose colors depend on the 
velocity of its transmission. It regards reflection as analogous to the re¬ 
bounding of elastic bodies; while to explain refraction, it assumes that there 
are interstices in transparent bodies, to allow of the passage of the particles 
of light, and that these particles are attracted by the molecules of bodies— 
their attraction combining with the velocity of the particles of light to cause 
them to deviate in their course. The undulatory theory assumes that light 
is propagated by the vibrations of an imponderable matter termed ether. 
Qn this view, light is somewhat similar to sound. Newton was the author 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


419 


of the former theory, and Huyghens may be regarded as the author of the 
latter. The theories were long rivals, but now no doubt remains that the 
theory of undulations has triumphed over the other. Its soundness may be 
said to rest on similar evidence to that which we have for the theory of gravi¬ 
tation; it had not only satisfactorily accounted for all the phenomena of light, 
but it has been the means of discovering new phenomena. In fact, it has 
supplied the philosopher with the power of prescience in regard to its subject. 

Heat.—Heat is the unknown cause of the sensation of warmth, and of 
a multitude of common phenomena in nature and art. In considering this 
subject scientifically, it is necessary, at the outset, to discard the ideas con¬ 
veyed by the popular use of such words as heat and cold. A number of 
bodies, however different, left for a long enough time iu the same room, 
must acquire the same temperature, or become in reality equally warm. 
Yet in popular language, some, as metals, stones, etc., are pronounced to be 
cold, and others, as flannel and fur, warm. The touch, then, is not a means 
by which we can acquire any definite idea of the temperature of a body. 

A heated body is no heavier than it was before it was heated; if, there¬ 
fore, heat be a material substance, as it was long considered, it must be 
imponderable. And, in fact, under the name of caloric or phlogiston, it is 
classed, in almost all but modern treatises, as one of the family of imponder¬ 
ables. But if it were matter , in any sense of the word, its quantity would be 
unchangeable by human agency. Now we find that there are cases in which 
heat is produced in any quantity without flame, combustion, etc., as in 
melting two pieces of ice by rubbing them together, and also cases in which 
a quantity of heat totally disappears. This is utterly inconsistent with the 
idea of the materiality of heat. The only hypothesis that at all accords with 
the phenomena is, that heat is a form of motion. 

Whether it be a vibration, such as light and sound (in some cases, it cer¬ 
tainly is), or consist in a succession of impacts of the particles of bodies on 
each other (as in some cases it has been considered to be), it is none the 
less certain that the amount of heat in a body is to be measured by the vis- 
viva of moving particles. But as we cannot observe those particles so as to 
ascertain their vis-viva, we must have some means of measuring the tem¬ 
perature of a body, depending upon an effect of heat. Whatever that effect 
may be, it is obvious that, as the laws of nature are uniform, it will afford 
us a reproducible standard, by which we can estimate its amount at anytime 
and in any place, and compare that amount with another observed some¬ 
where else; just as the French metre is reproducible at any time, being the 
ten-millionth part of a quadrant of the meridian. 

Now, the most general and notable effect which heat produces on matter 
is to expand it. The length of a metallic bar varies with every change of 
temperature, and is ever the same at the same temperature. The fixing of 
the tire of a cart wheel is a very good instance. No hammering could fit an 
iron hoop so tightly on the wood-work of the wheel as the simple enlarging 
of the tire by heat, and its subsequent contraction by cold. It is thus pos¬ 
sible to slip it on, and an enormous force is secured to bind the pieces to¬ 
gether. In almost every kind of structure, the expansion and contraction 
from changes of temperature require to be guarded against. Watches and 
clocks, when not compensated, go faster in cold weather, and slower in hot, 
an immediate consequence of the expansion or contraction of their balance- 
wheels and pendulums. 

' Jf a flask full of water or alcohol be dipped into hot water or fleld oyer a 


420 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


lamp, a portion of the liquid runs over; a glass shell which floats in a ves¬ 
sel of water, sinks to the bottom when the water is heated; and a3 water is 
heated, the hotter water continually rises to the surface. Indeed, if the 
latter were not the case, it would be impossible to prevent explosions every 
time we attempted to boil water or any other fluid. If a bladder, partly 
filled with air, and tightly tied at the neck, be heated before a Are, the con¬ 
tained air will expand, and the bladder will be distended. As it cools, it 
becomes flaccid again by degrees. 

Regarding specific heat, the thermometer indicates the temperature of a 
body, but gives us no direct information as to the amount of heat it contains. 
Yet this is measurable, for we may take as our unit the amount of heat re¬ 
quired to raise a pound of water from 0° to 1% which is of course a definite 
standard. As an instance of the question now raised—Is more heat (and if 
so, how much more) required to heat a pound of water from zero to 10 ', 
than to heat a pound of mercury between the same limits ? We find by ex¬ 
periment that bodies differ extensively in the amount of heat (measured in 
the units before mentioned) required to produce equal changes or tempera¬ 
ture in them. 

It is a result of experiment (sufficiently accurate for all ordinary purposes) 
that if equal weights of water at different temperatures be mixed, the tem¬ 
perature of the mixture will be the arithmetic mean of the original tempera¬ 
tures. From this it follows, with the same degree of approximation, that 
equal successive amounts of heat are required to raise the same mass of 
water through successive degrees of temperature. As an instance, suppose 
one pound of water at 50° to be mixed with two pounds at 20°, the resulting 
■temperature of the mixture is 30°; for the pound at 50’ has lost 20°, while 
each of the other two pounds has gained 10’. But if we mix water and 
mercury at different temperatures, the resulting temperature is found not 
to agree with the above law. Hence it appears that to raise equal weights of 
different bodies through the same number of degrees of temperature , requires 
different amounts of heat. And we may then define the specific heat of a 
substance as the number of units of heat required to raise the temperature 
of one pound of it by one degree. 

By the definition of a unit of heat, it is at once seen that the specific heat 
of water is unity; and, in general, the specific heats of other bodies are less, 
and are therefore to be expressed as proper fractions. For example, if 
equal weights of water and mercury be mixed, the first at 0°, the second at 
100°, the resulting temperature will not be 50° (as it would have been had 
both bodies been water), but 3°23 nearly—in other words, the amount of 
heat which raises the temperature of one pound of water 3 0- 2, is that which 
would raise that of one pound of mercury 96°-77, or the specific heat of mer¬ 
cury is 1-30th of that of water. The following may be given as instances of 
the great differences which experiment has shown to exist among bodies in 
respect of specific heat: Water, 1-000; turpentine, *426; sulphur, -203; iron, 
*114; mercury, -033. 

It is mainly to the great specific heat of water that we are indebted for 
the comparatively small amount of it required to cool a hot body dropped 
into it; for its comparatively small loss of temperature when it is poured 
into a cold vessel, and the enormous effects of the water of the ocean in 
modifying climate. 

We are now prepared to consider the somewhat complex effects produced 
by heat on the molecular constitution of bodies; and conversely, the rela¬ 
tions of solidity, fluidity, etc. ? to beat, All bodies (except carbon, which 


FA Mill AH SCIENCE. 421 

has been softened only) have been melted, by the application of a proper 
amount of heat. The laws of this fusion are: 

1. Every body has a definite melting-point, assignable on the thermome¬ 
tric scale, if the pressure to which it is subjected be the same. 

2. When a body is melting, it retains that fixed temperature, however 
much heat may be applied, until the last particle is melted. The last re¬ 
sult is most remarkable. The heat applied does not raise the temperature, 
but produces the change of state. Hence it seems to disappear, as far as the 
thermometer is concerned, and was therefore called latent heat. 

A pound of water at 79° C. added to a pound of water at 0° C., produces, 
of course, two pounds of water at 39’*5. But , a pound of water at 79’C. 
added to a pound of ice at 0 3 C., produces two pounds of water at 0°. 
Heat, then, has disappeared in the production of a change from solidity to 
fluidity. And this we might expect from tli6 conservation of energy, for 
actual energy in the shape of heat must be consumed in producing the po¬ 
tential energy of the molecular actions in the fluid. For every pound of ice 
melted, without change of temperature, seventy-nine units of heat are thus 
converted into change of molecular arrangement. 

We give a few instances of latent heat of fusion: Water (as above), 79*0; 
zinc, 28T; sulphur, 9*4; lead, 5*4; mercury, 2*8. 

In law 1, it is mentioned that constancy of pressure is necessary. In 
fact, the freezing (or melting) point of water is lowered by increase ot pres¬ 
sure, while those of sulphur and wax are raised; but these effects, though 
extremely remarkable, are very small. Most bodies contract on solidifying; 
some, however, as water, cast-iron, type-metal, etc., expand. Thus, a se¬ 
vere frost setting in after copious rain splits rocks, etc., by the expansion of 
freezing water; and thus also we obtain in iron the most delicate and faith¬ 
ful copy of a mold, and in the fusible alley a clear-cut copy of a type. The 
modem dynamical theory of heat enables us to see that a perpetual motion 
would be procurable, if bodies which contract on solidifying had not their 
melting point raised by pressure, and vice versa. 

Analogous to the fusion of a solid is its solution in a liquid, or the mutual 
conversion into liquids of two solids which are intimately mixed in powder. 
Here, also, we should expect actual energy in the shape of heat, to be used 
up in producing the potential energy of the fluid state; and, indeed, such is 
always the case. Such changes of ai’rangement destroy heat, or produce 
cold; but this in many cases is not the effect observed, as heat is generally 
developed by the loss of potential energy, if there be chemical action be¬ 
tween the two substances. Hence, in general, the observed effect will be 
the difference of the heat generated by chemical action, and that absorbed in 
change of state. 

If a quantity of pounded nitrate of ammonia (a very soluble salt) be 
placed in a vessel, an equal weight of water added, and the whole stirred 
for a minute or two with a test-tube containing water, the heat required for 
the solution of the salt will be abstracted from all bodies in contact with 
the solution, and the water in the test-tube will be frozen. In this sense, 
the compound is called a freezing mixture. 

Of course the converse of this may be expected to hold, and latent heat 
to become sensible when a liquid becomes solid. As as example, when a 
saturated solution of sulphate of soda begins to deposit crystals of the salt, 
the temperature rises very considerably; and it is the disengagement of 
latent heat that renders the freezing of a pond a slow process, even after 
the whole of the water has been reduced nearly to the freezing-point. 


m CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Almost all that has been said on the subject of fusion is true of vapori¬ 
zation, with the change of a word or two. Thus, however much heat we 
may apply to a liquid, the temperature does not rise above the boiling- 
point. Heat, then, becomes latent in the act of vaporization, or rather is 
converted into change of state. It is found by experiment that 540 units of 
heat (each sufficient to heat a pound of water 1° C.) disappear in the con¬ 
version of a pound of water into steam. Hence a pound of steam at 100° C. 
is sufficient to raise 5*4 pounds of water from zero to the boiling-point. 

There are at least three distinct ways in which heat is communicated, 
and these we will take in order. 

First, as to conduction: Why is it that if one end of a poker and of a glass 
or wooden rod be put into a fire, we can keep hold of the other end of the 
latter much longer than we can of the former ? The reason is, that heat is 
more readily transmitted in the iron from particle to particle, than it is in 
glass or w r ood. This is conduction. It is to be noticed, however, that in 
this experiment a great portion of the heat which passes along each rod is 
given off into the air by the surface. The mathematical theory of conduc¬ 
tion has been most exquisitely investigated by Fourier, and after him by 
Poisson, but on the supposition that the rate at which heat passes from a 
warmer to a colder portion of a body is proportional to the difference of tem¬ 
perature. As most of the experiments which have been made with the ob¬ 
ject of ascertaining the conductivity (not conductibility, the erroneous word 
in common use) of different bodies have been made in this way, it is not 
surprising that our knowledge on this point is very meagre indeed. We 
know that silver conducts better than most other metals, and that the 
metals in general conduct better than other solids; but here our present 
information ends. It is satisfactory to know, however, that the defects of 
the old methods are now fully acknowledged, and that the important ele¬ 
ment of conductivity will shortly be accurately known for all important sub¬ 
stances. Forbes has recently shown that the conductivity of iron dimin¬ 
ishes as its temperature increases; and the same is probably true of other 
bodies. This invalidates the conclusions of the mathematical theories above 
mentioned, but the necessary corrections will be easily applied when the 
experimental data are completely determined. 

In conjunction with their radiating power, the conductivity of bodies is 
most important as regards their suitableness as articles of clothing for hot 
or cold climates, or as materials for building or furnishing dwelling houses. 
We need but refer to the difference between linen and woolen clothing, or 
to the difference (in cold weather) of sensation between a carpet and a 
bare floor, in order to show how essential the greater or less conducting 
power of bodies is to our everyday comfort. 

By radiation is understood the passage of heat, not from particle to 
particle of one body, but through air or vacuum, and even through solid 
bodies (in a manner, and with a velocity quite diff erent from those of con¬ 
duction) from one body to another. There can be no doubt whatever as to 
radiant heat being identical with light, differing from red light, for instance, 
as red light differs from blue—i. e., having longer waves than those cor¬ 
responding to red light. This idea might easily have arisen during the con¬ 
templation of a body gradually heated. At first it remains dark, giving off 
only rays of heat; as its temperature increases, it gives us, with the heat a 
low red light, which, by the increase of the temperature, is gradually ac¬ 
companied by yellow, blue, etc., rays, and the incandescent body (a lime- 
ball, for instance) finally gives off a light as white as that of the sun, and 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


423 


which, therefore, contains ail the colors of sunlight in their usual propor¬ 
tions. In fact there is great reason to believe that the sun is merely a mass 
of incandescent melted matter, and that the radiations it emits, whether 
called heat or light, merely differ in quality, not in kind. Taking this view 
of the subject at the outset, it will be instructive to compare the properties 
of radiant heat with those of light throughout. 

Light , then, moves (generally) in straight-lines. This is easily verified in 
the case of heat by the use of the thermo-electric pile and its galvanometer. 
Placing the pile out of the line from a source of heat to an aperture in a 
screen, no effect is observed; but deflection of the needle at once occurs 
when the pile is placed in the line which light would have followed if sub¬ 
stituted for the heat. 

A concave mirror, which would bring rays of light proceeding from a 
given point to a focus at another given point, does the same with heat, the 
hot body being substituted for the luminous one, and the pile placed at the 
focus. Heat, then, is reflected according to the same laws as light. A burn¬ 
ing lens gives a capital proof of the sun’s heat and light being subject to 
the same laws of refraction. When the solar spectrum is formed by means 
of a prism of rock-salt, the thermo-electric pile proves the existence of heat 
in all the colored spaces, increasing however, down to the red end of the 
spectrum, and attaining its maximum beyond the visible light, just as it heat 
were (as it must be) light with longer waves. 

Some bodies, as glass, water, etc., transmit, when in thin plates, most of 
the light which falls on them; others, as wood, metal, colored glass, etc., 
transmit none or little. A plate of rock salt, half an inch thick, transmits 
96 per cent, of the rays of heat which fall on it; while glass, even of a thick¬ 
ness of one-tenth of an inch, transmits very little. In this sense rock-salt is 
said to be diathermanous , while glass is said to be adiathermanous, or only 
partially diathermanous. Most of the simple gases, such as oxygen, hydro¬ 
gen, etc., and mixtures of these, such as air, oppose very little resistance to 
the passage of radiant heat; but the reverse is the case with compound 
gases. Some experiments by Tyndall seem to show that the vapor of 
-water is exceedingly adiathermanous. The question, however, cannot be 
considered as finally settled, since some of Tyndall’s results are so start¬ 
ling as to require further research and confirmation. 

Again, light can be doubly refracted, plane polarized, circularly polarized. 
All these properties have been found in heat by Principal Forbes. 

The beautiful investigations of Stokes and Kirchoff on the solar spectrum 
have shown us that bodies, which most easily absorb light of a particular 
color, when heated, give off most freely light of that color; and it is easily 
shown by experiment, that those surfaces which absorb heat most readily, 
also radiate it most readily. Thus, it was found by Leslie, that when a 
tinned-iron cube full of boiling water had one side polished, another rough¬ 
ened, a third covered with lamp-black, etc., the polished side radiated little 
heat, the roughened more, while the blackened side radiated a very great 
quantity indeed. And again, that if we have (say) three similar thermom¬ 
eters, and if the bulbs be (1) gilded, (2) covered with roughened metal, (3) 
smoked, and all be exposed to the same radiation of heat, their sensibility 
will be in the order 3, 2, 1. A practical illustration of this is seen in the fact 
that a blackened kettle is that in which water is most speedily boiled, while 
a polished one keeps the water longest warm when removed from the fire. 
Again, if a willow-pattern plate be heated white-hot in the fire, and then ex¬ 
amined in a dark room, the pattern will be reversed—a white pattern being 


424 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

seen on a dark ground. This experiment of Stewart’s is very remarkable, 
and virtually constitutes an anticipation of Kirchofl’s results leading to the 
explanation of the fixed lines in the spectrum. It is this law of radiation 
and absorption that mainly gives rise to the superior comfort of white 
clothing to black in winter as well as in summer; radiating less m winter, it 
absorbs less in summer. 

Much has been argued about the separate existence of cold , from such 
facts as these: A piece of ice held before the thermo-electric pile, produces 
an opposite deflection to the galvanometer to that due to a hot ball. It a 
freezing mixture be placed at one focus of a spheroidal mirror, and a ther¬ 
mometer with a blackened bulb at the conjugate focus, the latter will fall 
speedily, though very far off from the mixture. Now, the real explanation 
of such observations is to be found in what is called the “ Theory of Ex¬ 
changes,” first enunciated by Prevost, and since greatly extended and care¬ 
fully verified by Stewart, which is to this effect: “ Everybody is continually 
radiating heat in all directions, the amount radiated being (nearly) propor¬ 
tional to its own temperature.” Hence the apparent radiation of cold in the 
experiments above mentioned is due to the fact of the pile or thermometer 
radiating off more heat than it receives , as its temperature is higher than that 
of the freezing mixture to which it is opposed. From this it is evident that 
any number of bodies left near each other, tend gradually to assume a com¬ 
mon temperature. By this theory of exchanges, we explain the cold felt in 
sitting opposite a window in a frosty day, even when there is no draught. 

A hot body cools faster in a current of air than in a still atmosphere of 
the same temperature, evidently because fresh supplies of the colder air 
are continually brought into contact with it. It is by convection mainly that 
heat is conveyed from particle to particle in liquids and gases. Thus, when 
a lamp is applied to the bottom of a vessel of water, the heat does not dif¬ 
fuse itself in the water as it would (by conduction) in a mass of metal, but 
the expansion of the heated water at the bottom rendering it lighter, bulk 
for bulk, than the superincumbent fluid, causes it to rise to the surface; and 
thus, by convection, the heat is diffused through the mass. Conduction, 
properly so-called, can scarcely be shown, even if it really exist, in liquids 
or gases, on this account. The tremulous appearance of any object, as seen 
by light which passes near a hot surface, as that of a boiler or a red-hot 
poker, is due to the convection of heat in the air, the warm current refract¬ 
ing light less than the cold air. 

The sources of heat may be, so far as we know, ultimately reduced to 
two—chemical combination, and mechanical force; and, indeed, in all 
probability, the former is only a variety of the immensely different forms in 
which the latter is manifested. 

Combustion is the term applied to the process of burning, which usually 
consists in the oxygen of the air uniting with the constituents of the com¬ 
bustible substance. Thus, the combustion of coal is due to the oxygen of 
the air passing into a state of chemical union with the carbon and the hydro¬ 
gen of the coal, forming carbonic acid and water-vapor. Such chemical 
combinations are always accompanied by the production of more or less 
heat, as in the case of decaying wood and other vegetable matter; but it is 
only when the action is so rapid as to evolve intense heat accompanied by 
light, that the process is called burning or combustion. Though the gaseous 
oxygen has as much to do with the process as the more solid material, coal, 
wood, paper, or cloth, yet the latter is alone styled the combustible or burn - 
ing body , whilst the oxygen is invariably named the supporter of combus* 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


425 


tion. A fe w substances bum at ordinary temperatures, such as phosphorus, 
which glows when exposed to the air; but the generality of substances, such 
as wood, coal, etc., require to be raised in temperature or be set fire to be¬ 
fore they possess the power of combining with the oxygen of the air. The 
amount of heat given out by the various combustibles when burned, is 
capable of being measured, and is definite. The same weight of the same 
combustible invariably evolves the same amount of heat during its complete 
combustion; but different combustible substances give off different amounts 
of heat. The mode in which the heat evolved may be measured, is either 
(1) To observe the quantity of ice which a given weight of the combustible 
will melt when burning; (2) To notice the weight of water which the com¬ 
bustible will convert into steam; or (3) To estimate the number of pounds 
of water which the burning body will raise from 32° to 212° Fahrenheit. 
The last plan is the more easily managed and accurate. 

Electricity—This is the name used in connection with an extensive 
and important class of phenomena, and usually denoting either the unknown 
cause of the phenomena or the science that treats of them. Most of the 
phenomena in question are classed under the three chief heads of frictional 
electricity, galvanism and magneto-electricity. 

Thales, about 600 b. c., refers in his writings to the fact that amber, when 
rubbed, attracts light and dry bodies. This w r as the only electric fact known 
to the ancients. The science of electricity dates properly from the year 
1600 a. d., when Gilbert of Colchester published a book entitled “ De Arte 
Magnetica,” in which he gives a list of substances which he found to pos¬ 
sess the same property as amber, and speculates on magnetic and electric 
forces. He is the inventor of the word electricity, which he derived from 
the Greek word electron, amber. Otto von Guericke, burgomaster of Magde¬ 
burg, in his work “Experimenta Nova Magdeburgica ” (1672), describes, 
among his other inventions, the first electric machine ever made, which con¬ 
sisted of a globe of sulphur turned by a handle, and rubbed by a cloth 
pressed against it by the hand. Hawksbee (1709) constructed a machine in 
which a glass cylinder, rubbed by the dry hand, replaced Guericke s sulphur 
globe. Grey and Wehler (1729) were the first to transmit electricity from 
one point to another, and to distinguish bodies into conductors and non¬ 
conductors. Dufay (1733 to 1745) showed the identity of electrics and non¬ 
conductors, and of non-electrics and conductors, and was the first to 
discover the two kinds of electricity, and the fundamental principle which 
regulates their action. Between the years 1733 and 1744, much attention 
was given in Germany to the construction of electric machines. Up to this 
time, notwithstanding the inventions of Guericke and Hawksbee, the glass 
tube rubbed by a piece of cloth which Gilbert first introduced, was use-d m 
all experiments. Boze, a professor at Wittenberg, taking the hint from 
Hawksbee’s machine, employed a globe of glass for his machine, and 
furnished it with a prime conductor. Winkler, a professor at Leipsic, was 
the first to use a fixed cushion in the machine. The Leyden jar was (1746) 
discovered accidentally at Leyden by Muschenbroek; but the honor of t e 
discovery has been contested also in favor of Cuneus, a rich burgess of that 
town, and Kleist, canon of the cathedral of Camin, in Pomerania. Franklin 
(1747) showed the electric conditions of the Leyden jar, and (1752) proved 
the identity of lightning and electricity by his famous kite experiment. 
This last was performed with the same object about the same time, and quit® 
independently, by Romas of the town of Nerac, in France. In 1760 Franklm 


426 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

made the first lightning conductor. Canton, Wilke and iEpinus (1753 to 
1759) examined the nature of induction. Ramsden (1768) was the first to 
construct a plate machine, and Nairn (1780) a two fluid cylinder machine. 
The electrophorus was invented by Yolta in 1775, and the condenser by the 
same electrician in 1782. In 1786 Galvani made the discovery which led to 
the addition of the new branch to the science which bears his name, and 
which now far exceeds the older branch in extent and practical value. In 
1787, Coulomb, by means of his torsion-balance, investigated the laws of 
electric attraction and repulsion. In 1837, Faraday published the first of his 
researches on induction. Armstrong, in 1840, designed his hydro-electric 
machine. 

The fundamental facts regarding frictional electricity may be thus 
stated: Bodies which do not conduct electricity, or non-conductors, are 
capable of electrical excitation from friction, and are, in consequence, termed 
electrics, and that conductors not so affected are called non-electrics. 
The fundamental principles of electricity are illustrated by the electric pen¬ 
dulum. A glass tube bent at right angles, so as to project horizontally, is 
placed on a convenient stand. On the hook in which its upper end ter¬ 
minates, a cocoon thread is hung, to the end of which a pith-ball is attached. 
The ball is thus doubly insulated by the glass and the silk thread. If a 
tube of glass be rubbed by a dry silk handkerchief, and brought near the 
ball, the ball is at first briskly attracted, and then as briskly repelled; and 
if the tube be then moved towards it, it moves off; keeping at the same dis¬ 
tance from it. The ball being so affected, or charged, as it is called, a rod 
of shell-lac or of sealing wax, after being rubbed with flannel, attracts it, if 
possible, more briskly than before, and again sends it off exactly as the 
glass had done. If the glass tube be now again taken up and rubbed a sec¬ 
ond time, if necessary, the ball will act towards it as it did towards the 
sealing wax. The same series of attractions and repulsions would have 
taken place if we had begun with the sealing wax instead of the glass tube. 
We interpret this experiment in the following way: When glass is rubbed 
with silk, and the silk removed, it is charged with what is called positive 
electricity. The ball is attracted by it, and becomes on contact also charged 
with positive electricity, and is then repelled. When sealing wax is rubbed 
with flannel, and the flannel removed, it becomes charged with negative 
electricity, which is the counterpart of positive electricity, for it attracts the 
positively charged ball, and communicating its own electricity to it, finally 
repels it. From such an experiment as this, we conclude that bodies elec¬ 
trified either positively or negatively, attract neutral bodies and bodies 
affected with electricity of an opposite name to their own, but repel those 
affected with electricity of the same name; and that electricity can be com¬ 
municated from one body to another by contact. For positive and negative 
(written also -f and —), the terms vitreous and resinous are also employed, 
as glass and resin are the typical substances from which they may be ob¬ 
tained. Contact is not the only way in which electricity is communicated. 
We find, when we deal with larger bodies than the pith ball of the experi¬ 
ment, and sometimes even with it, that the passage of a spark between two 
bodies without contact communicates the electricity of the one to the other. 
The part played by the rubbers in the above experiment must not be over¬ 
looked. The silk handkerchief employed to rub the glass assumes the 
resinous or — electrical state, and the flannel rubber of the sealing wax the 
vitreous or +. This cannot, however, be clearly shown, as the experiment 
is performed, for the rubbers are in each case tightly embraced by the hand, 


familiar science . 


427 


which neutralizes tlieir peculiar electricity. We can perform our funda¬ 
mental experiment in a way clearly to show this. Let us take for our rub¬ 
bing and rubbed surfaces two india rubber balloons inflated with air (such 
as children play with), and hold them tightly one in each hand. They may 
be in all respects perfectly alike. Let us then rub them briskly on each 
other, and then hold the rubbed sides closely together. On bringing the 
two in contact near the pith ball, it remaius indifferent to them; but if we 
pull them apart, and put one on each side of the pith ball, the ball plays 
actively between them, being attracted and repelled by each in turn. The 
fact of no attraction occurring when the balloons are together, shows that in 
the rubbing both electricities are generated in equal quantities, for they 
neutralize each other when brought near; and the fact that the balloons 
must be separated proves that all electric phenomena take place in an elec¬ 
tric field, with positive electricity at its one termination, and negative 
electricity at its other. The non-conducting nature of the india rubber pre¬ 
vents the electricities finally neutralizing in contact, and disappearing by 
the hands when apart. It is also instructive that as force is exerted and 
work is done in pulling them apart, we have the equivalent of that work in 
the form of an electric field capable of doing work. The motion of the pith 
ball, and the heating caused by the tiny sparks which charge it, are evi¬ 
dences of the truth of the statement. It is again worthy of note that both 
balloons appear exactly alike, and yet they assume opposite electricities. 

In most cases of friction, the nature of the rubbing and rubbed surfaces 
determines the kind of electricity which each assumes. Thus, if glass be 
rubbed by a cat’s fur instead of silk, its electricity is — instead of +. In 
the following list, each body, when rubbed by any one preceding it, is nega¬ 
tively electrified; by any one succeeding it, positively: cat’s fur, smooth 
glass, linen, feathers, wood, paper, silk, shell-lac, ground glass. When two 
pieces of the same material are rubbed together, the colder or smoother be¬ 
comes positively excited. Metal filings rubbing against a plate of the same 
metal determine — electricity in themselves, and + electricity in the plate. 
When a white silk ribbon is rubbed by a black one of the same texture, the 
white one becomes +. A plate of glass becomes + when a stream of air is 
directed against it from a pair of bellows. The friction caused by steam of 
high tension issuing from a narrow pipe develops electricities in the steam 
and pipe which depend on the material of the latter. This fact has been 
turned to advantage by Armstrong in the construction of a boiler electrical 
machine of immense power. 

There are two theories which have played an important part in the 
history of the science—the two-fluid theory of Dufay, and the one-fluid 
theory of Franklin. According to the former, matter is pervaded with two 
highly elastic imponderable electric fluids—one, the vitreous; the other, the 
resinous. These are supposed to repel themselves, but attract each other. 
Neutral bodies give no evidence of their presence, for they are neutralized 
the one by the other; but when by friction or other operation the fluids are 
separated, each body observes the attractions and repulsions of the fluid it 
happens to have. According to the latter, there is only one electric fluid 
which repels itself, but attracts matter. Friction determines a gain of the 
fluid to the positive, and a loss to the negative body. Faraday’s theory of 
electric induction by contiguous molecules appears to be gaining ground. 
“ it explains satisfactorily how conductors and ncn-conductors are alike in 
kind; how the charge on a conductor can only reside at the boundary of the 
conductor and non-conductor, or—which is the same thing—the surface of 


428 CYCLOPEDIA OP tlSEEUL KNOW LED & E. 


the conductor; how the charge resides in the dielectric; how the polarity of 
the galvanic circuit is effected; how a battery current originates in and 
effects chemical decomposition; and how the velocity of discharge is de¬ 
pendent on the conformation ot the circuit.” 

Galvanism is that branch of the science ot electricity which treats of the 
electric currents arising from chemical action, more particularly from that 
attending the dissolution of metals. It is sometimes called dynamical elec¬ 
tricity, because it deals with current electricity, or electricity in motion, and 
is thus distinguished from frictional electricity, which is called statical in 
consequence of its investigating the electric condition of bodies in which 
electricity remains insulated or stationary. These terms, although in the 
main thus properly applied, are in all strictness applicable to both sciences. 
Frictional electricity, though small in quantity, can pass in a sensible cur¬ 
rent, and galvanic electricity, though small iu tension, can be made to mani¬ 
fest the attractions and repulsions of stationary electricity. Thus the series 
of discharges which are transmitted in a wire connecting the prime con¬ 
ductor of a machine in action with the ground, possesses, though feebly, 
the characteristics of a galvanic current; and the insulated poles of a many 
celled galvanic battery, manifest before the current begins the electric ten¬ 
sion of the friction machine. 

Magneto-electricity includes all phenomena where magnetism gives rise 
to electricity. 

Air.—Atmosphere is the name applied to the gaseous envelope which 
surrounds the earth. The existence ot an atmosphere is to us a matter of 
vital importance. We owe to its influence the possibility of animal and veg¬ 
etable life, the modifying and retaining of solar heat, the transmission of 
sound, the gradual shading of day into night, the disintegration of rocks, 
and the occurrence of weather phenomena. In consequence of the action 
of gravity, the atmosphere assumes the form of a spheroidal stratum con¬ 
centric with the earth, and presses heavily on its surface. It exhibits, in 
common with all fluid bodies, the usual characteristics of hydrostatic pres¬ 
sure, but its internal condition differs from that of a liquid inasmuch as its 
particles repel each other, and can only be held in proximity by external 
force. From this circumstance, it follows that the volume of any portion of 
air varies much more under the influence of external pressure than that of 
an equal volume of water; hence, the stratum of air nearest the earth is 
denser than the strata in the upper regions, where, from their being sub¬ 
jected to the weight of a smaller mass of superincumbent air, the repulsive 
force of the particles has freer play. 

That air possesses weight , is illustrated by the following simple experi¬ 
ment. If a hollow glass globe of five or six inches in diameter be weighed 
first, w'lien filled with air, and then, after the air has been extracted from it 
by means of the air pump, it will, when thus exhausted, weigh sensibly less 
than it did before, and the difference of the tw r o results will represent the 
weight of the quantity of air which has been withdrawn. It has been de¬ 
termined by Biot and Arago that 100 cubic inches of dry air, when the 
barometer is at 30 inches, and the thermometer at 60° Fahrenheit, weigh 
31-074 grains. The law' of Archimedes, that a body immersed in a fluid 
loses a part of its weight equal to the weight of the volume of fluid displaced 
by it, finds its application in the atmosphere, as well as in water. If a glass 
globe filled with air and closed be suspended at the extremity of the beam 
of a delicate balance, and be kept in equilibrium by a brass weight at the 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


429 


other extremity, and if the whole be then placed under the receiver of an 
air-pump, and the air extracted, the equilibrium previously existing in air 
will be disturbed, and the larger body will become the heavier. The rea¬ 
son of this is, that when first weighed, they each lose as much of their own 
w eight as that of the respective volumes of air displaced by them, and are 
therefore made buoyant, though in different degrees, the ball with the 
larger volume having the greater buoyancy. In a vacuum, they are de¬ 
prived of this buoyancy, and the larger body, suffering the greater loss, 
becomes sensibly heavier than the other. In like manner, a balloon filled 
with heated air or hydrogen gas is lighter than the volume of air displaced 
bv it. It is therefore forced upwards till it reaches a stratum of such den¬ 
sity that the weight of the volume of air there displaced by it equals the 
weight of the balloon itself. In this stratum it will remain poised, or move 
horizontally with the currents to which it may be exposed. 

In endeavoring to determine the/o?*m of the atmospheric envelope, it is 
necessary to bear in mind that, according to the law of fluid-pressure, in 
order to produce a state of equilibrium at the level of the sea, the pressure 
of the atmosphere must be equal at that level over the whole of the earth’s 
surface. Gravity acts with less force on the air at the equator th an on that 
at the poles, in consequence of the spheroidal form of the earth. It has 
there, in addition, to contend with the centrifugal force, which entirely fails 
at the poles, and which has a tendency to lighten the air by acting contrary 
to that of gravity. Hence we infer, that in order to produce the same pres¬ 
sure at the level of the sea, the atmospheric height at the equator must be 
greater than that at the poles, and that the atmosphere must therefore pos¬ 
sess the form of an oblate spheroid, whose oblateness is considerably greater 
than that of the earth itself. The greater heat at the tropical regions must 
also have the effect of increasing the oblateness. 

The height of the atmosphere has not yet been determined. That it 
must have a certain limit, is evident from the consideration that there must 
be a point at which gravity on the one hand, and centrifugal force and the 
repulsive action of the particles on the other, are poised, and beyond which 
the latter forces on balancing the former force, the aerial particles would 
be borne away from the earth. As, however, the law of the diminution of 
temperature, which materially affects the repulsive action, is unknown for 
the upper regions of the air, it is impossible to calculate the height of the 
atmosphere from the relations of these forces. From the observation of 
luminous meteors, it is inferred that it is at least 100 miles high, and that, 
in an extremely attenuated form, it may even reach 200 miles. 

The pressure of the atmosphere is one of its most important properties. 
Its effect is exhibited in the action of the ordinary water-pump. The piston 
is fitted air-tight in its cylinder; and on being drawn up, creates a vacuum. 
The water within the pump being thus freed from pressure, while that out¬ 
side of it is exposed to the pressure of a column of air reaching to the sur¬ 
face of the atmosphere, is at once forced up by reason of the weight of air 
which it must rise to balance. The ascent of the water takes place till the 
piston has reached the height of nearly 34 feet, from which we conclude 
that a column of air is equal in weight to a column of water of the same 
horizontal section, and of the height of nearly 34 feet. As mercury is 136 
times heavier than water, a mercurial column freed from atmospheric 
pressure at the one extremity, and subjected to it at the other, is 13‘6 times 
less in height than the column of water, or about 30 inches. From the more 
convenient size of this column, mercury has been adopted as the standard 


430 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


for atmospheric pressure, and is employed in our ordinary barometers. A 
mercurial column of 30 inches in height, and one square inch in section, 
weighs 15 lbs. (more accurately, 14'73), which gives us the equivalent 
weight of a column of atmospheric air of the same section. The word at¬ 
mosphere is often employed to express this weight or pressure on a square 
inch of surface, so that when we speak, in mechanics, of the pressure of 
steam on a boiler as amounting to three atmospheres, we mean a pressure 
of 45 lbs. on the square inch. The pressure on a square inch being thus as¬ 
certained, we have merely to multiply it by the number of square inches on 
the earth’s surface to obtain the total weight of the atmosphere. It amounts 
to 11-67085 trillions of lbs. 

Recent chemical researches give the following as the mean composition 
of 100 volumes and ol 100 grains of dry air: 


Volumes. Grains. 

Nitrogen. 79-02 76-84 

Oxygen.. . 20-94 23-10 

Carbonic acid. 0-04 0-06 

100-00 100-00 

Besides the substances just named, other gaseous matters occur, but in 
quantities so small as not sensibly to increase the bulk of the atmosphere, 
such as ammonia and ammoniacal salts, carburetted and sulphuretted hy¬ 
drogen, carbonic oxide, sulphurous and sulphuric acid, nitric acid and per¬ 
haps iodine, the quantity and even the presence of which are affected by 
local and meteorological causes. Roughly speaking, then, dry air may be 
said to consist of four volumes of nitrogen, and one of oxygen, with a slight 
admixture of carbonic acid, and a mere trace of several other substances. 
As, however, the air of the atmosphere is never found dry, we must add to 
the constituents already named watery vapor, the amount of which is con¬ 
stantly changing, according to locality, weather, wind and temperature. It 
is stated that of 1,000 grains of atmospheric air, the proportion due to aque¬ 
ous vapor varies from a minimum of four to a maximum of sixteen grains. 
By far the most active chemical constituent of the atmosphere is oxygen, to 
the agency of which are owing the existence of animal life, the maintenance 
of combustion, the rusting of metals, and the occurrence of several other 
chemical phenomena too numerous to be detailed. The nitrogen which 
forms the bulk of the atmosphere possesses few chemical properties of im¬ 
portance, but performs the important part of diluting the oxygen, which, if 
it occurred alone, would act with too great intensity. The presence of car¬ 
bonic acid in the air is shown by the production of the white carbonate of 
lime in lime-water freely exposed to its influence. Carbonic acid is pro¬ 
duced in all processes where carbonaceous matter unites itself with the 
oxygen of the air, such as in animal respiration, in combustion, in fermenta¬ 
tion, in putrefaction, and similar processes. The green leaves of plants, on 
the other hand, possess, in presence of sunshine, the power of decomposing 
carbonic acid into its elements, absorbing the carbon for their own tissues, 
and restoring the oxygen to the atmosphere in its original purity. Between 
the processes above mentioned, on the one hand, and the action of plants 
on the other, the quantity of carbonic acid in the air is kept nearly consta nt. 
From the table it will be seen that 10,000 volumes of atmospheric air con¬ 
tain four volumes of carbonic acid. If it occurred in a much larger propor¬ 
tion, being poisonous, it would become dangerous to animal life; and if it 
occurred in a much less proportion, the vegetable world would lack its 







FAMILIAR SCIENCE . 


431 


requisite nourishment. The other substances, of which a trace is always or 
only sometimes found in atmospheric air, are difficult to detect in the air 
itself, but are generally found dissolved in rain-water, more especially in 
that which has fallen immediately after a long drought. Of these, by far 
the most important and widely diffused are ammonia and ammoniacal salts, 
which are of essential importance to the vegetable economy, because, dis¬ 
solved in the rain, they furnish plants with the nitrogen required by them 
for the production of their flowers and fruit. Nitric acid is detected in the 
air after thunder-storms, sulphuretted hydrogen in the tainted air of sewers 
and such like places, and sulphurous and sulphuric acid only in the neigh¬ 
borhood of chemical or smelting works. A considerable quantity of car¬ 
bonic oxide and carburretted hydrogen escapes unconsumed from our fur¬ 
naces; and although the latter gas is in addition given off to the air in 
marshy and bituminous districts, the two occur in almost inappreciable 
quantity in the atmosphere. 

In addition to its gaseous constituents, the atmosphere contains solid 
substances in a state of exceedingly fine division, the presence of which is 
revealed in the sunbeam. Many of these minute particles, being the seeds 
or germs of plants and animals, must exert an important influence on the 
organic substances on which they may finally settle, inducing in many of 
them the conditions of disease or putrefaction. 

Water._ln a state of purity, at the ordinary temperature of the air, 
Tpvater is a clear, colorless, transparent liquid, perfectly neutral in its reac¬ 
tion, and devoid of taste or smell. At a temperature below 32° it freezes, 
crystallizing in various forms derived from the rhombohedron and six-sided 
prism. It appears from the researches of Arago and Fresnel, that notwith¬ 
standing the gradual dilatation of water below 39% its refractive power on 
light continues to increase regularly, as though it contracted. Its density 
at 60°, and at the level of the sea, is taken at 1-000, and forms the standard 
of comparison for all solids and liquids, hydrogen being similarly taken as 
the standard of comparison for gases and vapors. Distilled water is 815 
times heavier than air; a cubic inch weighs, in air at 62°, with the barometer 
at thirty inches, 252-458 grains, and in vacuo, 252-722 grains, the grain being 
1-7000 of the avoirdupois pound. For all practical purposes, water may be 
considered as incompressible; but very accurate experiments have shown 
that it does yield to a slight extent when the pressure employed is very 
great; the diminution of volume for each atmosphere of pressure being 
about fifty-one millionths of the whole. Water evaporates at all tempera¬ 
tures, and under the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, boils at 212°, 
passing off in the form of steam, which, in its state of greatest density at 
212% compared with air at the same temperature, and with an equal elastic 
force, has a spec. grav. of 0*625. In this condition it may be represented as 
containing, in every two volumes, two volumes of hydrogen and one volume 
of oxygen. 

Water is the most universal solvent with which the chemist is acquainted, 
and its operations in this respect are equally apparent, although on very 
different scales, on the surface of the globe and in the laboratory. This 
solvent action is usually much increased by heat, so that a hot aqueous 
saturated solution deposits a portion of the dissolved matter on cooling. 
Some substances are so soluble in water, that they extract its vapor from 
the atmosphere and dissolve themselves in it. Moreover, when water is 
heated in a strong closed vessel to a temperature aboye that of the ordinary 


432 CYCLOP JED IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

boiling-point, 212°, its solvent powers are much increased. All gases are 
soluble in water, but water dissolves very unequal quantities of different 
gases, and very unequal quantities of the same gas at different tempera¬ 
tures. Some gases are so extremely soluble in this fluid, that it is necessary 
to collect them over mercury. For example, at 32° one volume of water 
dissolves somewhat less than l-50th of its volume of hydrogen, and exactly 
l-50th of its volume of nitrogen, while it dissolves 506 and 1,050 volumes of 
hydrochloric acid and ammonia gases; and while at 32° water dissolves 1'8 
times its volume of carbonic acid, it dissolves only half that volume of the 
gas at 60°. 

It is less than a century since the ancient view, that water was one of the 
four elements, has ceased to be believed in. It is now known that it is a 
compound of oxygen with hydrogen in the proportion of one equivalent of 
each. Hence its symbol is HO, and its combining number 9. When con¬ 
verted into vapor, 9 grains of steam occupy the bulk of 8 grains of oxygen at 
the same tempei*ature; hence the combining volume of aqueous vapor is 
equal to 2, if the combining volume of oxygen be taken as 1. 

Wind_Wind is air in motion. All wind is caused, directly or indirect¬ 

ly, by changes of temperature. Suppose the temperature of two adjacent 
regions to become, from any cause, different, the air of the warmer, being 
lighter, will ascend and flow over on the other, whilst the heavier air of the 
colder region will flow in below to supply its place. Thus, then, a differ¬ 
ence in the temperature of the two regions gives rise to two currents of air— 
one blowing from the colder to the warmer along the surface of the earth, 
and the other, from the warmer to the colder, in the upper regions of the 
atmosphere; and these currents will continue to blow till the equilibrium 
be restored. 

Winds are classed into Constant , Periodical and Variable Winds. 

The trade wind is a constant wind, and is thus explained: When the part 
of the earth’s surface which is heated is a whole zone, as in the case of the 
tropics, a surface-wind will set in towards the heated tropical zone from 
both sides, and uniting will ascend, aDd then separating, flow as upper 
currents, in entirely opposite directions. Hence, a surface current will flow 
from the higher latitudes towards the equator, and an upper-current 
towards the poles. If, then, the earth were at rest, a north wind would 
prevail in the northern half of the globe, and a south wind in the southern 
half. But these directions are modified by the rotations of the earth on its 
axis from west to east. In virtue of this rotation, objects on the earth’s sur¬ 
face at the equator are carried round toward the east, at the rate of 17 
miles a minute. But as we recede from the equator, this velocity is con¬ 
tinually diminished; at lat. 60° it is only eight and one-half miles a minute, 
or half of the velocity at the equator; and at the poles it is nothing. A 
wind, therefore, blowing along the earth’s surface to the equator, is con¬ 
stantly arriving at places which have a greater velocity than itself. Hence, 
the wind will lag behind, that is, will come up against places towards which 
it blows, or become an east wind. Since, then, the wind north of the equa¬ 
tor is under the influence of two forces—one drawing it south, the other 
drawing it west—it will, by the law of the composition of forces, flow in an 
intermediate direction, that is, from north-east to south-west. Similarly, 
in the southern tropic, the wind will blow from south-east to north¬ 
west. 

Land and sea breezes are the most general of the periodical winds. 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE 


433 


These winds are caused during the day, by the land getting more heated 
than the sea, consequently the air over it ascends, and the cool air from 
the sea flows over on the land to supply its place; and during night, by the 
temperature of the land falling below that of the sea, and the air becoming 
thereby heavier and denser, flows over the sea as a land breeze. 



WIND CLOUD. 

Variable winds depend on purely local or temporary causes, such as tho 
nature of the ground, covered with vegetation or bare: the physical con¬ 
figuration of the surface, level or mountainous; the vicinity of the sea or 
lakes, and the passage of storms. Storms are sudden and violent winds, 
resembling whirlwinds, hereafter treated. 









































434 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 



THE SIMOON. 


Whirlwinds and Waterspouts.—Whirlwinds seldom continue 
longer than a minute at any place, and sometimes only a few seconds; their 

breadth varies from a 
few yards to nearly a 
quarter of a mile; dur¬ 
ing their short continu¬ 
ance, the changes of the 
wind are sudden and vio¬ 
lent; and the barometer 
is not observed to fall. 
The direction of the 
eddy of the whirlwinds, 
especially when the di¬ 
ameter is very small, 
differs from the rotation 
of winds in a storm, in 
that it may take place 
either way—right to left, 
or left to right—accord¬ 
ing to the direction of 
the stronger of the two 
winds which give rise to 
the whirlwind. Thus, 
suppose it to arise from 
a north wind blowing 

side by side with a south wind, and to the west of it, then, if the north 
wind be stronger, the whirl will be north, west, south, and east; but it will 
be in a contrary direction if the south wind be the stronger. Whirlwinds often 
originate within the trop¬ 
ics during the hot season, 
especially in flat sandy 
deserts; these becoming 
unequally heated by the 
sun, give rise to aseendmg 
columns of heated air. In 
their contact with each 
other, the ascending cur- 
re n t s result in eddies, 
which draw up with them 
large clouds of dust, and 
the whole is borne forward 
by the wind that may hap¬ 
pen to be blowing at the 
time. This is the origin of 
the d u s t whirlwinds of 
India. These dust-storms 
are frequent in dry warm 
regions; and in the case of 
the Simoon , which may be 
regarded as a succession of 

such whirlwinds, they appear on a scale of the most appalling grandeur. 
Extensive fires, such as the burning of a prairie, and volcanic eruptions, 
also cause whirlwinds, by the conflicting currents of heated air they ocea« 



WATERSPOUTS. 


















FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 435 

sion; and these, as well as the whirlwinds already mentioned, are generally 
accompanied with heavy rains, hail and electrical displays. 

Waterspouts are whirlwinds occurring on the sea or on lakes. When 
fully formed, they appear as tall pillars of cloud stretching from the sea to 
the sky, whirling round their axes, and exhibiting the progressive move¬ 
ment of the whole mass precisely as in the case of the dust whirlwind. The 
sea at the base of the whirling vortices is thrown into the most violent com¬ 
motion, resembling the surface of water in rapid ebullition. It is a popular 
fallacy that the water of the sea is sucked up in a solid mass by water¬ 
spouts, it being only the spray from the broken waves which is carried up. 
Observations of the rain gauge conclusively prove this. 

Dew.—For any assigned temperature of the atmosphere, there is a cer¬ 
tain quantity of aqueous vapor which it is capable ot holding in suspension 
at a given pressure. Conversely, for any assigned quantity of aqueous 
vapor held in suspension in the atmosphere, there is a minimum tempera¬ 
ture at which it can remain so suspended. This minimum temperature is 
called the dew-point. During the day time, especially if there has been 
sunshine, a good deal of aqueous vapor is taken into suspension in the at¬ 
mosphere. If the temperature in the evening now falls below' the dew¬ 
point, which after a hot and calm day generally takes place about sunset, 
the vapor which can be no longer held in suspension is deposited on the 
surface of the earth, sometimes to be seen visibly falling in a fine mist. This 
is one form of the phenomenon of dew, but there is another. The surface of 
the earth, and all things on it, and especially the smooth surfaces of vege¬ 
table productions, are constantly parting with their heat by radiation. If 
the sky is covered w'ith clouds, the radiation sent back from the clouds 
nearly supplies an equivalent for the heat thus parted with; but if the sky 
he clear, no equivalent is supplied, and the surface of the earth and things 
growing on it become colder than the atmosphere. If the night also be 
calm, the small portion of air contiguous to any of these surfaces w'ill be¬ 
come cooled below the dew-point, and its moisture deposited on the surface 
in the form of dew. If this chilled temperature be below 32° Fahrenheit the 
dew becomes frozen, and is called hoar-frost. 

Rain_At a given temperature, air is capable of containing no more 

than a certain quantity of aqueous vapor invisibly dissolved through it, and 
when this amount is present, it is said to be saturated. Air may at any 
time be brought to a state of saturation by reducing its temperature; and if 
it be cooled below this point, the whole of the vapor can now no longer be 
held in suspension, but a part of it passing from the gaseous to the liquid 
state, w’ill be deposited in dew, or float about in the form of clouds. If the 
temperature continues to fall, the vesicles of vapor that compose the cloud 
will increase in number, and begin to descend by their own weight. The 
largest of these tailing fastest, will unite with the smaller ones they en¬ 
counter in their descent, and thus drops of rain will be formed whose size 
w’ill depend on the thickness and density of the cloud. The point to which 
the temperature of the air must be reduced in order to cause a portion of 
its vapor to form cloud or dew, is called the dew-point. 

Hence, the law of aqueous precipitation may be stated: Whatever lowers 
the temperature of the air at any place below the dew-point, is a cause of 
rain. Various causes may conspire to effect this object, but it is chiefly 
brought about by the ascent of the air into the higher regions of the atmoa- 


436 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


pliere, by which, being subjected to less pressure, it expands, and in doing 
so, its temperature falls. Ascending currents are caused by the heating of 
the earth’s surface, for then the superincumbent air is also heated and con¬ 
sequently ascends by its levity. Air currents are forced up into the higher 
parts of the atmosphere by colder, drier, and therefore heavier wind cur- 



RAIN CLOUD. 


rents getting beneath them, and thus wedge ways thrusting them upwards; 
and the same result is accomplished by ranges of mountains opposing their 
masses to the onward horizontal course of the winds, so that the air, being 
forced up their slopes, is cooled, and its vapor liberated in showers of rain 
or snow. 






































FA Ml LI AH 80 IF If OF 


m 


Snow.—Snow is the frozen moisture which falls from the atmosphere 
when the temperature is 32° or lower. It is composed of crystals, usually 
in the form of six-pointed stars, of which about 1,000 different kinds have 
been already observed, and many of them figured. These numerous forms 
have been reduced to the following five principal varieties: # 1. Thin plates, 
the most numerous class, containing several hundred forms of the rarest 



SNOW CLOUD. 


and most exquisite beauty. 2. A spherical nucleus or plane figure studded 
with needle-shaped crystals. 3. Six or more rarely three-sided prismatic 
crystals. 4. Pyramids of six sides. 5. Prismatic crystals, having at the 
ends and middle thin plates perpendicular to their length. The forms of 
the crystals in the same fall of snow are generally similar to each other. 
The crystals of hoar-frost being formed on leaves and other bodies disturb- 




































43$ C Y CL 0 FJED 1A OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


ing the temperature, are often irregular and opaque; and it has been ob¬ 
served that each tree or shrub has its own peculiar crystals. Snow-flakes 
vary from an inch to 7-lOOths of an inch in diameter, the largest occurring 
when the temperature is near 32% and the smallest at very low tempera¬ 
tures. As air has a smaller capacity for retaining its vapor as the tempera¬ 
ture sinks, it follows that the aqueous precipitation, snow or rain, is much 
less in polar than in temperate regions. The while color of snow is the 
result of the combination of the different prismatic rays issuing from the 
minute snow crystals. Pounded glass and foam are analogous cases of the 
prismatic colors blending together and forming the white light out of which 
they had been originally formed. It may be added that the air contained in 
the crystals intensifies the whiteness of the snow. It is from ten to twelve 
times lighter than an equal bulk of water. From its loose texture, and its 
containing about ten times its bulk of air, it is a very bad conductor of heat, 
and thus forms an admirable covering for the earth from the effects of radia- 



SNOW CRYSTALS. 

tion—it not uufrequently happening, in times of great cold, that the soil is 
40° warmer than the surface of the overlying snow. 

Hail.- The word hail, in English, is unfortunately used to denote two 
phenomena of apparently different origin. In French, we have the terms 
grale and gresil— the former of which is hail proper; the latter denotes the 
fine grains, like small shot, -which often fall in winter, much more rarely iu 
summer, and generally precede snow. The cause of the latter seems to be 
simply the freezing of rain drops as they pass in their fall through a colder 
region of air than that where they originated. We know by balloon ascents 
and various other methods of observation, that even in calm weather differ¬ 
ent strata of the atmosphere have extremely different temperatures, a 
stratum far under the freezing point being often observed between two 
others comparatively warm. 

But that true hail, though the process of its formation is not yet perfectly 
understood, depends mainly upon the meetmg of two nearly opposite cur¬ 
rents of air—one hot and saturated with vapor, the other very cold— 
is rendered pretty certain by such facts as the following: A hailstorm is 
generally a merely local phenomenon, or at most, ravages a belt of land of 
no great breadth, though it may be of considerable length. Hailstorms 
occur in the greatest perfection in the warmest season, and at the warmest 
period of the day, and generally are most severe in the most tropical 
climates. A fall of hail generally precedes , sometimes accompanies, and 
rarely, if ever, follows a thunder shower. A common idea, which has found 






FAMILIAR SCIENCE. 


439 


its way, as many popular prejudices continually do, into scientific treatises, 
assigns electricity as the origin of hail. But all observation, rightly inter¬ 
preted, seems to show that electricity and hail are results of the same com¬ 
bination of causes. 

When a mass of air, saturated with vapor, rising to a higher level, meets 
a cold one, there is, of course, instant condensation of vapor into ice by the 
cold due to expansion; at the same time, there is generally a rapid produc¬ 
tion of electricity, the effect of which upon such light masses as small hail¬ 
stones is to give them in general rapid motion in various directions succes¬ 
sively. These motions are in addition to the vortex motions or eddies, 
caused in the air by the meeting of the rising and descending currents. The 
small ice-masses then moving in all directions impinge upon each other 
sometimes with great force, producing that peculiar rattling sound which 
almost invariably precedes a hail shower. At the same time, by a well 
known property of ice (Kegelation), the impinging masses are frozen to¬ 
gether; and this process continues until the weight of the accumulated mass 
enables it to overcome the vortices and the electrical attractions, when it 
falls as a larger or smaller hailstone. On examining such hailstones, which 
may have any size from that of a pea to that of a walnut, or even an orange, 
we at once recognize the composite character which might be expected from 
such a mode of aggregation. Hailstones are reported to have fallen in 
tropical countries sometimes as large as a sheep, sometimes as large as an 
ox, or even an elephant! But it is probable that the aggregation in these 
cases was produced by regelation at the surface of the earth, when a series 
of large masses had impinged on each other, having fallen successively on 
the same spot. Whether this be the true explanation or no, it is certain that 
in British India, at the warmest season, hailstones have remained of con¬ 
siderable size for many days after their fall.. 

The Tides_It has long been admitted that the tides, or the flowing 

and ebbing of the waters of the ocean, is caused by the moon; but this gen¬ 
eral theory admits of some modifications, or explanations. The attractive 
power of the sun is felt by the ocean; and high winds s^rve to increase or 
retard the rise and fall of the sea. The relative distances of the moon, at 
different times, are also to be considered, in accounting for different heights 
of the tides. The sun and moon exert an influence on our globe, by attrac¬ 
tion, which is found to exist in all bodies. The force of this attraction, in 
such large bodies of matter as the sun and moon, is very great. The sun 
being far the largest of these bodies, would attract the earth in a much 
greater degree than the moon does, except that the latter is but a small 
distance from our globe, compared to the sun. When the sun and moon are 
in the same line, as to the earth, their combined influence is greater than 
that of either separate. And when the moon is at her quarter, as it is 
called, or farthest from the line from the sun to the earth, then the influence 
of the moon on the earth is less than in a different position. And then the 
tides do not flow so high, or are not so powerfully attracted by the moon; 
the attraction of the sun being to a different direction, or at a different part 
of the earth (for the attraction is perpendicular, or operates in straight 
lines). 

The tyro is ready to ask, how there are two high tides in twenty-four 
hours. He sees by the above theory, that when the moon is at the meridian 
of any place (or rather a little later, unless other causes are in operation), 
the waters rise to the highest, at such place, by the moon’s attraction. But 


440 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the difficulty is, as to another high tide directly on the opposite side of the 
earth. The moon attracts the earth, as well as the ocean, though not with 
so great apparent effect. The water of the sea is more easily affected. 
The whole earth is attracted by the moon; and thus the water of the ocean 
farthest from the moon, or on the opposite side of the earth, is drawn 
towards the moon, and leaves the water less attracted; which, in effect and 
appearance, rises higher, than in a state, where no attraction was felt on the 
earth or ocean. Thus there is a high tide on the side of the earth opposite 
to the moon, as well on the side next the moon, and nearly where the moon 
is in the meridian. In the one case, the water is attracted (being lighter 
than the earth) towards the moon, and rises to the highest point; and in 
the other, the whole earth is attracted towards the moon, and the water 
opposite to and farthest from the moon is left behind (as it were) and rises 
higher, compared to the earth near it, than it would otherwise appear. 

But there are other considerations to be noticed in explaining the phe¬ 
nomenon of the tides. We have said that the highest tides happen at the 
new and full moon, when the sun and moon are in a line with the earth; 
but the waters do not yield instantly to the action exerted upon them, nor 
cease their motion caused by the attraction of the moon, at the moment the 
moon is in the meridian; the influence exerted continues to operate, or the 
effect continues. Thus the spring tides occur about a day and a half after 
the time indicated. For a similar reason, the real time of high water, in 
daily tides, occurs nearly three hours after the moon passes the meridian. 
The motion given to the waters of the ocean by the attraction of the moon, 
continues after the attraction has operated. An impetus is given which 
causes the water to move for some time after the cause of the motion ceases. 
This is agreeable to the general laws of matter and motion. 

Pliny noticed the phenomenon of the tides eighteen centuries ago, and 
considered the cause to he the attraction of the sun and moon. Galileo and 
Kepler wrote on the subject three hundred years since, and Newton after¬ 
wards. His theory is generally adopted, and he shows that in a system of 
three bodies, the motion of one about auother, and relative to the latter, is 
disturbed and irregularities produced, by the difference of the attractive 
forces of the sun on the earth and moon. 

Earthquakes—The term earthquake is that which is applied to any 
tremor or shaking of the solid crust of the earth. It is well known that the 
surface of the globe is never free from sensible evidence of the continued 
operation of earthquake agency—that in some quarter or another tremors 
or slight shakings are always taking place. When these are of a serious 
nature, whole cities have been destroyed; fertile districts, with all their 
fruit and grain, have been laid waste; and enormous masses of human 
beings have lost their lives. No less than 60,000 perished in the great Lis¬ 
bon earthquake; while in that of Calabria, in the end of the last century, 
40,000 were destroyed. It is estimated that as many as 13,000,000 of the 
human race have thus perished. 

No portion of the earth’s surface is exempt from the influence of earth¬ 
quakes. Nor is the bed of the ocean exempt; records of many subaqueous 
earthquakes exist, taken by vessels at sea, sometimes passing over the 
point of greatest disturbance at the moment of the shock. In like manner 
earthquakes have been active at every period of the earth’s existence, break¬ 
ing up its solid crust, elevating or depressing its surface, and doing as much 
as any other single agent to bring it into its present condition. They have 


FAMILIAR SCIENCE . 441 

been probably at some periods more active than at others, just as we find 
that some districts are now more liable than others to their visitation. 

The phenomena connected with earthquakes have been variously de¬ 
scribed. Many writers refer to appearances in the heavens, or changes in 
the atmosphere, which to them seem to have some connection with the ca¬ 
tastrophes they narrate. They tell of irregularities in the seasons preceding 
or following the shock, of sudden gusts of wind interrupted by sudden 
calms, of violent rains at unusual seasons, or in countries where such phe¬ 
nomena are almost unknown, of a reddening of the sun’s disc, of a haziness 
in the air often continued for months, and similar phenomena. But these 
are so irregular in their appearance, and have been so seldom observed 
associated with more than a single earthquake, that, in the absence of any 
decided reason to the contrary, there seem good grounds for believing they 
have no real connection with the earthquake. It is different with under¬ 
ground noises, which frequently precede, accompany, or succeed the occur¬ 
rence of earthquakes, or some of the shocks of them. They are undoubt¬ 
edly intimately connected with the shock, yet earthquakes occur, even of 
the greatest violence, which are unaccompanied by any sound whatever. 
Different descriptions have been given of these subterranean noises. In 
some earthquakes, they are likened to chains pulled about, increasing to 
thunder; in others, the sound is like the rumbling of carriages, growing 
gradually louder, until it equals the loudest artillery; or like heavy wagons 
running away upon a road; or distant thunder; or like the hissing produced 
by the quenching of masses of red-hot iron in water. 

All theorists are agreed as to the connection between volcanoes and 
earthquakes; that they are produced by the same subterranean agency. 
The existence of molten matter in the interior of the earth is the starting- 
point in all theories, but a complete and satisfactory solution of the entire 
problem yet remains to be given. 

Whirlpools_A whirlpool is a circular current in a river or sea, pro¬ 

duced by opposing tides, winds, or currents. It is a phenomenon of rare 
occurrence on a large scale, but illustrations in miniature may be noticed 
in the eddies formed in a river by means of obstacles or deflections. The 
Maelstrom, the most famous whirlpool in the world, is situated on the Nor¬ 
wegian coast, between Moskoe and Moskenas, two of the Loffoden Isles. 
The tremendous current that rushes between the Great West Fjord and the 
outer ocean, through the channels between the Loffoden Isles, creates 
many other dangerous currents, such as the Galstrom, Napstrom, etc.; but 
these are not to be compared with the famous Maelstrom. The current runs 
for six hours from north to south, and then six hours from south to north, 
producing immense whirls. The depth of the water lias been ascertained 
to be about 20 fathoms, while immedi ately to the west of the straits the 
soundings are from 100 to 200 fathoms. The whirlpool is greatest at high 
or low water; and when the wind blows directly against the current, it be¬ 
comes extremely dangerous, the whole sea for several miles around being 
so violently agitated that no boat can live in it for a moment. Inordinary 
circumstances, it may be traversed even across the center without appre¬ 
hension. The stories of ships, whales, etc., being swallowed up in the vor¬ 
tex are simply fables; at the same time, there can be no doubt that a ship, 
once fairly under the influence of the current, would certainly either founder 
or be dashed upon the rocks, and whales have often been found stranded 
on the Flagstadt coast from the same cause 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


[This department is made up of a series of extracts, republished oy permission 
of the publisher, from a valuable and comprehensive work entitled “ How to Be 
Your Own Lawyer,” a complete instructor for everybody in all the ordinary 
legal affairs of life, adapted to every State and Territory. The book is a large 
12mo of more than 500 pages, neatly bound in cloth. Its price is $1.50, and it is 
published by M. T. Richardson, Nos. 21 to 27 New Chambers St., New York.] 


Bonds.—A bond is any writing under seal in which a debt or obligation 
is acknowledged, or in which the maker shows that he intends to bind him¬ 
self to the payment of a fixed sum of money. 

The person making a bond is called the obligor. 

The person to whom it is made is called the obligee. 

No particular words are required, provided the intention of the parties 
can be learned from the instrument. 

The words “ Held and firmly obliged ” are usually used. 

The obligor has the benefit of the doubt in all cases where the intention 
of the parties is not clear, as the condition of the bond is considered the 
agreement and assent of the obligee and made for the benefit of the obligor. 

No immaterial alteration of a bond would make it void, but it is advisa¬ 
ble to make no alterations after it has been signed and sealed, as it might 
give rise to a suit. 

Many suits arise from the difficulty in deciding whether the sum men¬ 
tioned in the condition of the bond is to be considered “a penalty” or 
“ liquidated damages.” If it is regarded as a penalty, the court will re¬ 
duce it to the actual amount of damages suffered; but if it is regarded as 
liquidated damages (damages which have been agreed upon at the time of 
drawing the bond), the court will not interfere if the sum named is not ex¬ 
cessive, but will allow full payment to be enforced. 

If the amount is to be a penalty, the words “ penalty or forfeit” should 
be used; but if liquidated damages are intended, it should be stated that 
the parties have agreed to consider the sum mentioned in the condition as 
liquidated damages, and all words such as “ penalty ” and “ forfeiture ” or 
any reference to them, should be omitted. 

The intention of the parties as to whether it was intended to be consid¬ 
ered as a penalty or liquidated damages, even though either term is used, 
is to be learned from the surrounding circumstances and the bond itself. 

The first part of the bond is considered the obligatory part, and is ex¬ 
plained by the condition. 

A bond being under seal is not barred by the Statute of Limitations until 
the lapse of twenty years. 

The surety to a bond is under the same obligation to the obligee as is 
the obligor. If any alteration is made in the instrument without the knowl¬ 
edge or consent of the surety, he will be freed from his liability. 

A bond should be entirely finished before execution and delivery. 




LAW FOR T1IF MASSES. 


443 


If a surety does not wish to be bound unless some other person or per¬ 
sons sign, he should state that he executed it ou this condition; the bond 
should make mention of this fact. 

A bond will be considered valid when it conforms substantially to what 
is required by the statues, and does not vary in any manner to the preju¬ 
dice of the person for whose benefit it is to be given. 

1.—COMMON FORM OF BOND FOR PAYMENT OF MONEY. 

Know all men by these presents, that I, A. B., of the town of , in the 
county of , and State of , am held and firmly bound unto C. D., of 
the said town, in the sum of dollars [inserting the penal sum, which is 
commonly double the amount of the principal sum intended to be secured], 
lawful money of the United States, to be paid the said C. D., his executors, 
administrators, or assigus, for which payment well and truly to be made I do 
bind myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, firmly bythese presents. 

Sealed with”my seal, and dated the day of , 18 . 

The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above bounden A. B., 
his heirs, executors, and administrators, or any of them, shall well and 
truly pay, or cause to be paid, unto the above-named C. 1)., his executors, 
administrators, or assigns, the just and full sum of dollars [insert the 
principal to be secured], with interest thereon at the rate of per cent, 
per annum, on the day of , which will be in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and , without any fraud or other delay, then this obligation is 
to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.f 

A. B. [Seal.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Names of witnesses.] 


2.— BOND WITH INTEREST CLAUSE GIVEN WITH A MORTGAGE. 

[Use Form 1 as far as t, then as follows:] 

And it is hereby expressly agreed, that, should any default be made in 
the pavment of the said interest, or of auy part thereof, on any day where¬ 
on the”same is made payable, as above expressed, and should the same re¬ 
main unpaid and in arrear for the space of days, then and from thence¬ 
forth—that is to say, after the lapse of the said days— the aforesaid 
principal sum of dollars, with all arrearage ofinterestthereon, shall, at 
the option of the said C. D., or his executors, administrators, or assigns, be¬ 
come and be due and payable immediately thereafter, although the period 
first above limited for the payment thereof may not then have expired, any¬ 
thing hereinbefore contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwith¬ 
standing. 

° A. B [Seal.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Names of witnesses.] 

3.— BOND WITH INSURANCE CLAUSE. 

[Use Form 1 as far as t, then as follows:] 

And it is expressly agreed by and between A. B. and C. I>., the parties 
to these presents, that the said A. B. shall and will keep the buildings 
erected and to be erected upon the lands above conveyed, insured against 
loss and damage by fire, by insurers, and in an amount approved by the 
said C. D., and assign the policy and certificates thereof to the said C. D.; 
and in default thereof, it shall be lawful for the said C. D. to effect such in¬ 
surance, and the premium and premiums paid for effecting the same shall 
be a lien on the said mortgaged premises, added to the amount of the said 
bond or obligation, and secured bv these presents, and payable on demand 
with interest at the rate of per cent, per annum. 

In witness whereof the said A. B. has hereunto set his hand and seal 

this day of , 18 . „ . 

[Signature.] [Seal.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signature of witness.] 


444 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


Mortgages.—A mortgage is a conveyance of an estate or property by 
way of pledge for the security of a debt, and to become void on the pay¬ 
ment of it. A mortgage of real property is one form of a lien upon it to 
secure the performance of some obligation, generally the payment of money. 

All kinds of personal and real property which are capable of absolute 
sale may be the subject of a mortgage. 

Any conveyance of land intended by the parties at the time of making it 
to be security for the payment of money or the doing of some specified act, 
is a mortgage. 

Mortgages are of two kinds, legal and equitable. 

A legal mortgage is in form a deed of land with a condition that if a cer¬ 
tain sum of money be paid, or services be rendered, the deed shall be void. 
The condition is called the defeasance. 

An equitable mortgage is a lien upon real estate of such a character that 
it is recognised in equity as a security for the payment of money, and is 
treated as a mortgage. Such a mortgage may arise by a deposit of the title 
deeds, and by an agreement to execute a mortgage, by proof that a deed, 
absolute on its face, was intended as a mortgage. The lien of vendor for 
unpaid purchase money is also an equitable mortgage. 

The mortgage should have all the requisites of a deed; that is, it should 
be signed, sealed, and delivered. 

It should be witnessed, acknowledged, and recorded. The mortgage is 
security for the payment of money. The debt for which the mortgage is 
given is the principal thing; consequently, if the debt is sold, the mortgage 
passes with it. 

The party giving the mortgage is called the mortgagor; he to whom it is 
given the mortgagee. 

A power of sale, in case of default in payment of interest or an instalment, 
is usually inserted, which enables the mortgagee to enforce payment. 

Mortgages are made with or without a personal promise to pay the debt. 
Where no personal promise in writing is made, the mortgagor is not person¬ 
ally liable for the sum secured; the mortgage being in such case only a lien 
on the land. 

Mortgages are frequently made to secure a contingent liability or future 
advances. A mortgage given for such purpose should state that fact. 

A covenant is usually inserted in a mortgage to pay the debt, and a bond 
or note is given for it, w T hich fact is mentioned in the mortgage, and it is 
stated in the mortgage that it is given in addition to the personal security. 
It is common to provide, in case buildings are on the premises, that the 
mortgagor shall keep them insured and assign the policy to the mortgagee. 
It is usual also to insert what is called an interest clause, which states that 
if interest remains unpaid for a certain number of days after it falls due, the 
mortgagee may elect to require payment of the principal at once. 

For the better security of the mortgagee, he should require the wife of 
the mortgagor to join in the execution of the mortgage. It is not necessary 
that the w r ife of the mortgagor join in the execution of a mortgage for the 
purchase money. Mortgages should be acknowledged or proved the same 
as deeds in order to be recorded. 

The mortgage can be assigned. The assignee then Stands in the position 
of the mortgagee. The assignee of the mortgage should get a statement 
from the mortgagor as to the validity of the mortgage and the amount due. 

The assignee should give notice of the assignment to the mortgagor, and 
should record his assignment. If the mortgagor should make two assign- 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


445 


ments, the first recorded, if taken without knowledge of the previous assign¬ 
ment, would have the preference. The assignee may himself assign. A 
mortgage may be discharged by a release of the debt; by payment of the 
debt, by a tender of the mortgage debt on the day that it is due. even though 
the money is not accepted, by the holder of the mortgage acquiring title to 
the property, by the expiration of twenty years from the time the mortgage 
is due or from the time of last payment. 

The mortgagor on payment of the mortgage should obtain a satisfaction 
piece from the mortgagee and have it recorded. 

If a mortgagor places two mortgages on the same property, the first re¬ 
corded, if taken without knowledge of the previous mortgage, would have 
the preference. For example: If A mortgages his property to B, and subse¬ 
quently mortgages the same property to C, who, without knowledge of the 
previous mortgage, records his mortgage, C’s lien on the property will be 
prior to that of B. 

The mortgagor usually pays for drawing the mortgage and searching the 
title. The mortgagee should have the mortgage recorded immediately after 
the execution and delivery of it. 

Chattel Mcnigage—A chattel mortgage is a mortgage of personal property. 
It is a transfer of the title to chattels, and is given as security for a debt or 
liability. 

It is given upon condition that the transfer shall be void if the debt is 
paid or discharged. If the mortgagor makes default in the payment of the 
debt at the time agreed upon, the mortgagee becomes the absolute owner, 
and may take possession of the property. The mortgagor has a right to 
redeem the property unless there has been a sale, in which case the right 
is lost. 

The mortgage states the liability or the debt to be secured. The prop¬ 
erty mortgaged should be so described as to enable it to be identified. It 
is usual to insert a description of the property in the schedule annexed, and 
referred to in the mortgage. The property generally remains in the pos¬ 
session of the mortgagor until default in payment of the debt. 

The mortgagee, for hi3 own protection, should file his mortgage if the 
mortgagor retains possession of the property. If he fails to file his mort¬ 
gage, and the mortgagee subsequently sells or mortgages the same prop¬ 
erty to another, who is ignorant of the existence of the previous mortgage, 
he loses his lien on the property. The mortgage, or a true copy thereof, 
must be filed in the office of the clerk of the town where the mortgagor re¬ 
sides. If the mortgagor is out of the State it should be filed with the clerk 
of the town where the property is located. 

In New York every mortgage ceases to be valid as against creditors or 
subsequent purchasers, or mortgagees in good faith, after the expiration of 
one year from the filing thereof, unless within thirty days next preceding 
the expiration of the said term of one year, a true copy of such mortgage, 
together with a statement exhibiting the interest of the mortgagee in the 
property thereby claimed by him by virtue thereof, is filed in the office of 
the clerk of the town where the mortgagor shall then reside. 

SHORT FORM OF MORTGAGE. 

This indenture, made the day of in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and between A. B., of in the county of and State 

of of the first part, and C. D., of in the said county, of the sec¬ 
ond part, wimesseth: That the said party of the first part, for and in con- 


446 CYC LO F JED IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Bideration of the sum of dollars, grants, bargains, sells, and confirms 
unto the said party of the second part, and to his heirs and assigns, all 
[here insert description], together with all and singular the hereditaments 
and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining. This 
conveyance is intended as a mortgage, to secure the payment of the sum 
of dollars, in [here state # terms of payment], according to the condi¬ 
tion of a certain bond, dated this day, and executed by the said party of the 
first part to the said party of the second part; and these presents shall be 
void if such payment be made. But in case default shall be made in the 
payment of the principal or interest, as abovo provided, then the party of 
the second part, his executors, administrators, and assigns, are hereby em¬ 
powered to sell the premises abovo described, with all and every of the 
appurtenances, or any part thereof, in the manner prescribed by law; and 
out ol' the money arising from such sale, to rotain the said principal and 
interest, together with the costs and charges of making such sale; and the 
overplus, if any there be, shall be paid by the party making such sale, on 
demand, to the party of the first part, his heirs or assigns. 

In witness whereof, the said party [or parties] of the first part has [or 
have] hereunto set his hand and seal [or their hands and seals], the day 
and year first above written. 

[Signature and seal.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signature of witness.] 


ss. 


SATISFACTION OF MORTGAGE. 

State of 

County of 

I, E. F., of county of State of do hereby certify, that a 
certain indenture of mortgage, bearing date the day of one thou¬ 
sand eight hundred and made and executed by A. B. (and wife) of 
county of State of to me to secure the payment of dol¬ 
lars and recorded in the office of county of in liber of mort¬ 
gages, page on the day of in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and , o’clock in the is paid. 

And I do hereby consent that the same be discharged of record. 

Dated the day of 18 . 

In presence of E. F. 

[Signature of witness.] 

[The satisfaction piece should be acknowledged before the proper officer.] 


Liens— a lien is a hold or claim which one person has upon the prop¬ 
erty of another as a security for some debt or charge. A lien differs from 
a mortgage in that it attaches as an incident to the matter of the debt by 
act of the law, while a mortgage is made for the express purpose of the se¬ 
curity. A lien is the right to retain the property of another on account of 
labor employed or money expended on that specific property. 

Other liens are on property never in the possession of the holder, but 
which, like that in favor of material men, mechanics and maritime lenders, 
show a peculiar equity in favor of the creditor as regards the particular 
property. 

A particular lien arises out of labor or money applied to a specific arti¬ 
cle in the possession of the creditor. 

A general lien is a right to retain property in possession for a general 
balance. 

Inn-keepers, warehousemen, tailors, common carriers, repairers, bro¬ 
kers, sellers, and pawnbrokers have particular liens for services rendered 
or for money advanced on the property in their possession. 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


447 


Attorneys have a general lien on the papers of their client and also upon 
judgments obtained by them. Bankers have a general lien on all securi¬ 
ties left with them for moneys advanced at any time after the receival of 
the securities. These are the common law liens and are allowed in every 
State without any statute. When possession is given up the lien is lost. 

Maritime liens are those of a shipper on the vessel for the value of the 
goods sent, of the owner of the ship on the goods for freight, of the master 
of a ship for wages and disbursements, of a seaman for wages, of a material 
man for supplies, etc.; furnished; of injured parties in case of a collision, 
and of the part owners for extra advances. 


Promissory Notes.—A promissory note is a written promise to pay 
a certain sum of money at a future time unconditionally. 

The party signing the note is called the maker, and the party in whose 
favor it is drawn the payee. 

If payment is to be made only to the payee, the note is not negotiable; 
but if made payable to him, his order, or to bearer, it has the necessary 
qualifications of negotiable paper. 

A promissory note, after it has been endorsed by the payee, is similar to 
a bill of exchange, and is governed by most of the rules which apply to bills. 
The essential qualities to give validity to a note are that it be paid abso¬ 
lutely and at all events (that is, that its payment is not to depend on any 
condition), and in money. 

A note passes by endorsement, which may be in full or in blank, as in 
the case of bills of exchange. 

If endorsed in blank it can be transferred through any number of hands 
without further endorsement until presented for payment, when the holder 
of the note writes over the last endorsement an order to pay the note to him 
or his order. It is always advisable, however, to have the endorsement of 
each party through whose hands the note has passed. 

Notes bear interest only when so stated therein. 

After maturity, all notes bear interest. 

Three days, called “ days of grace,” are allowed after the time men¬ 
tioned in the note for payment. 

If the last of these days falls on Sunday, the note must be paid on the 


previous Saturday. . 

If a note having no days of grace falls due on Sunday, it need not be 

paid until the following Monday. 

The same rule holds good with reference to legal holidays, in which case 
the note must be paid on the day previous if it has days of grace, otherwise 


on the day immediately following. 

Notes payable on demand are not entitled to “ days of grace. 

Notes obtained by fraudulent means are void. 

It is usual, and sometimes necessary, especially in Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey, to use the words, “without defalcation or discount, for value 

received” in a note. 

If an endorser does not wish to be held liable on a note he should write 
the words “ without recourse ” before his name. Written words in a note 
prevail over written figures at the top or bottom. A material alteration in a 
note discharges all the parties who have not consented to the alteration. 

As between a maker and a payee of an accommodation note the payee 
cannot enforce payment; but if he has endorsed the note, and it has passed 
into the hands of an innocent holder for value, the makei is liable. 


148 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


If no place of payment is mentioned, demand for payment of a note must 
be made of the maker at his residence or usual place of business by the 
holder or his authorized agent on the day the note falls due, and it pay¬ 
ment is not made, notice must be immediately given to the endorsers in 
order to hold them liable. 

If a note is not paid when it falls due, it is said to be dishonored. 

If the parties reside in the same city or town, notice of dishonor must be 
served personally on them by leaving notice at their homes or places of 
business; but if the parties reside in different places, notices must be 
mailed to them not later than the next day after demand and refusal. 

Each endorser is allowed a day in which to serve notiee on his immedi¬ 
ate preceding endorser. No precise form of notice is necessary. 

Notices of dishonor and protest are usually sent by notaries public, for 
the reason that in most States the protest and certificate of such an officer 
are regarded as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. 

Bank Checks. —A check is a written request addressed to a bank or a 
banker by a person having money on deposit with either, directing that a 
certain sum of money be paid by said bank or banker to a person named 
therein, or his order, or to the bearer. 

A check on a bank should be presented for payment at once or within a, 
reasonable time. 

The drawer of the check is not discharged from liability by delay in the 
presentment, unless he can show that he has suffered injury by the de¬ 
lay, as, for example, by the failure of the bank on which the check was 
drawn. 

If a bank pays a check which has been forged, it must bear the loss. 

An acceptance of a check is not a discharge of the debt, unless the par¬ 
ties intended it to be such. 

Checks are transferred by endorsement on the back, and this may be in 
full or in blank, as in cases of bills of exchange. 

Payment and Tender.—Payment is the fulfilment of a promise, or 
the performance of an agreement, or the discharge in money of a sum due. 

Payment must be in money or in something accepted in its stead, by 
some one authorized to receive it. The legal tender established by law is 
regarded as money. United States coins of all denominations and treasury 
notes are such. 

Negotiable bills and notes of individuals may be taken in payment of a 
debt, but only have the effect of, and operate as, payment, when taken with 
that object in view; in Maine and Massachusetts they are presumed to be 
taken in payment if the contrary is not expressly shown. Giving one’s own 
promissory note is no payment of a debt unless so understood by both par¬ 
ties. If a note or bill is taken on a debt, due diligence must be taken to 
collect it at maturity, or it will operate as payment by being treated as the 
bill of the receiver, and discharging the parties to it. 

Giving a check is not payment until it is cashed, or an unreasonable 
time has been allowed to elapse after the receipt of the check, and the 
check has been lost thereby. 

A receipt is prima facie evidence of payment. Other evidence, such as 
the possession of a note by the maker, etc., go to prove payment. 

Payment to an agent or attorney is good if the agent is authorized to re¬ 
ceive payment, and so also is payment to the wife, if she is authorized to 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 449 

receive it. An agent, however, can not receive anything but money in pay¬ 
ment, unless specially empowered to do so. 

Sometimes it is necessary to make a formal tender, if payment will not 
be taken, or proof of the offer is desired. 

Tender should be made to the party entitled to receive payment. The 
exact amount in strict legal tender money should be offered, stating the 
amount, and offering it unconditionally, except that in paying a note the 
note may be required to be given up as a condition of the tender. 

A receipt can not, however, be insisted upon without vitiating the tende’-. 

It is commonly supposed that a receipt can be demanded and insisted 
upon when money is paid. There is no law to compel a man to give a re¬ 
ceipt when he receives money, and he can refuse to do so. 

Tender, if good and sufficient, stops interest and accruing damages on 
the debt. 

Guaranty —A guaranty is an undertaking to answer for another’s lia¬ 
bility, and is collateral thereto, or, in other words, it is a contract by which 
one person is bound to another for the fullfilment of a promise or engage¬ 
ment of a third party. It differs from a warranty, which is given in refer¬ 
ence to the title, quality, or quantity of a thing sold. No special words are 
necessary to constitute a guaranty. If the party clearly shows that it is his 
intention to guaranty, it is sufficient. 

In order that the guarantor may be held, the guaranty should be in 
writing, signed by him. If the guarantor pays his principal’s debt he is 
entitled to all the securities of the creditor. 

The conditions of the guaranty must be strictly followed, otherwise the 
guarantor will not be held. 

The guaranty must be founded on a consideration, otherwise it is of no 
force. 

It is a sufficient consideration if the party for whom the guaranty is 
given derives a benefit, or the party to whom it is given suffers an injury, 
because of his acting on the faith of the guaranty. No consideration need 
pass from the party receiving the guaranty to the guarantor. The agree¬ 
ment of both parties is necessary to make a guaranty binding on the 
guarantor. The guarantor can be held only for the amount agreed upon, 
or for the time mentioned in the guaranty. 

If the principal fails to pay the debt, the guarantor should be notified. 
A guaranty is always revocable until it has been acted upon. 

GUARANTY OF PAYMENT OF NOTE. 

For value received, I hereby guarantee the payment of the within note. 

[Date.] [Signature.] 

GUARANTY OF PAYMENT OF BOND. 

In consideration of the sum of one dollar to me in hand paid by C. D., I 
hereby guarantee the payment of the foregoing bond. 

Witness my hand [and seal], the day of 18 . 

[Signature, with or without seal.] 

Warranty _Warranties which accompany a sale of personal property 

are of two kinds in respect to their forms, express and implied. 

An express guaranty is one by which the warrantor covenants or under¬ 
takes to insure that the thing which is the subject of the contract is or is not 
as there mentioned, as, for example, a horse is sound. 

An implied guaranty is one which, not being expressly made, the law 


450 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


implies by the fact of the sale. For example, the seller is understood to 
warrant the title of the goods he sells when they are in his possession at 
the time of the sale. If they are not in his possession when sold and no 
affirmation of title is made, the buyer purchases at his risk. 

As a general rule there is no implied warranty as to the quality of the 
goods sold. 

If a buyer asks for or receives a warranty, it is his fault if it does not 
cover as much ground and give him the protection he intended it should. 

It is always in the power of a purchaser to demand a warranty, and if he 
purchases without one he does so at his own risk. 

No precise words are necessary to constitute a warranty. It is sufficient 
if the words used show an intention on the part of the owner that the 
article sold is in every respect as represented. 

For the protection of the purchaser he should have the warranty reduced 
to writing and signed by the owner. 

Receipts.— A receipt is a written acknowledgment of payment or de¬ 
livery of money or property. 

It is made by the party receiving the money or goods. A receipt is the 
party’s admission of the delivery to him. It is simply presumptive evidence 
of the delivery and not conclusive at all on the party. The rule which ap¬ 
plies to written agreements, that they can not be varied by parol evidence, 
does not apply to a receipt; but the party may show the circumstances 
under which it was given, and may avoid its effect not only by showing that 
he was led to give it by fraud, or by some serious mistake, but generally by 
any clear proof that the money receipted for was not actually paid. 

Receipts “in full ” of a specified debt, or “ in full of all accounts,” or 
“ all demands,” are much more conclusive, and though not then operating 
as a release, extinguishing the debt itself, still are evidence of a compromise 
and mutual settlement of the rights of the parties. Greater force is given 
to a receipt if a seal is affixed. 

A receipt is evidence in any matter to which it is an incident. A receipt 
cannot be demanded as a condition of payment of a debt, nor can the party 
receiving payment be compelled to give a receipt. It is always the safer 
course to pay the debt in the px*esence of witnesses. 

Releases. —a release, unlike a receipt, is the giving up or abandoning 
a claim or right to the person against whom the claim exists or the right is 
to be exercised or enforced, while a receipt is simply evidence which may 
show that a claim is extinguished, but does not, however, itself extin¬ 
guish it. 

A release cannot be varied by testimony or outside evidence. 

In general, a release should express a consideration; and it is usual to 
state a nominal consideration if there is no other; and the instrument should 
also be under seal. 

A release by one of several persons who must sue together, given to 
one of several persons who must have been joined as defendants if an 
action had been brought, is valid, and has the effect of discharging all the 
debtors, if it be under seal; but it is competent for the parties to prevent 
this effect by expressing in the release that it is not to discharge the other 
joint debtors. 

Recovery of Debts.— Several of the States have abolished arrest and 
imprisonment for debt. In all the States, however, if it can be shown that 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 451 

fraud was committed in the contraction of the debt, or that the debtor is 
about to abscond, arrest and imprisonment are still allowed. 

Writ of attachment and the garnishee or trustee process are allowed 
quite universally throughout the States. 

By the trustee or garnishee process, a person who has money or prop¬ 
erty in his possession belonging to a defendant, which money or property 
has been attached in his hands, and who has notice of such attachment, is 
bound to keep the property in his possession to answer the plaintiff's claim 
until the attachment is dissolved or he is otherwise discharged. 

Deeds.—A deed is any written instrument containing a contract or 
agreement signed, sealed and delivered as the act of the person making it. 
It is a term used more commonly in reference to conveyances of lands, 
tenements and hereditaments. 

The requisites of a deed are that it be printed or written on paper or 
parchment, and be made by a person capable of contracting and with a per¬ 
son capable of being contracted with, and contain the names of the grantor 
and grantee; there must be something to be contracted for; it must contain 
the requisite parts and be sealed and delivered, and should be signed and 
witnessed, and for the purpose of being recorded should be acknowledged 
in the manner required by statute in the State or Territory where the prop¬ 
erty is situated. The deed should be signed by the grantor and by his 
wife, if he has one, and be acknowledged by both unless there be a statute 
rendering this unnecessary. The consideration should bo expressed in the 
body of the instrument, even though it be for the nominal sum of one 
dollar. 

In those States where the wife has dower, the grantor, if married, can¬ 
not give a good title, unless his wife signs the deed with him. She cannot 
be compelled to sign. The grantee should refuse to accept a deed without 
her signature in those States where dower has not been abolished. The 
grantee should see that words showing that the wife releases her dower 
and right of dower are used in the deed. 

It is advisable to have a deed witnessed by at least two disinterested 
persons. Although a Seal may not always be required, it is more prudent 
to affix one at the end of each signature. 

The grantor pays for drawing the deed; the grantee pays for searching 
the title. 

For the greater security of the grantee he should have search made for 
the following incumbrances on the property: Transfers, mortgages, lis 
pendens, commissioner’s loans, judgments in the county clerk’s office and in 
the U. S. district and circuit courts, taxes and tax sales, sheriffs and 
marshal’s sales, insolvent and general assignments, appointment of re¬ 
ceivers and appointment of trustees of absconding, concealed, non-resident 
or imprisoned debtors; mechanics’ and other liens, and exemptions under 
the homestead act. 

The grantor is the party making the deed and the grantee the party in 
whose favor it is made and to whom it is delivered. The usual covenants 
in a deed are that the grantor is lawfully seized; that he has a good right 
to convey; that there are no encumbrances on the property; that the 
grantee shall have quiet enjoyment, and that the grantor will warrant and 
defend the title against all lawful claims. The grantor signs his name, or 
it is don6 by some person in his presence and by his direction, or by an 
agent authorized by an instrument under seal to do so. If a grantor 


452 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

requests it or cannot read, the instrument must be read over to him befor# 
its execution. If the grantor is unable to write, he makes 

his 

“ his mark,” as, for example, James X Brown. 

mark 

If a corporation transfers property, the president usually signs the deed 
as president and affixes the corporate seal. 

All erasures or interlineations should be noted at the foot of the instru¬ 
ment, and just above the signatures of the witnesses. 

All blanks in a deed should be filled before execution. 

Any material alteration in a deed after execution makes it void. 

There should be a delivery and acceptance of a deed to make it opera¬ 
tive. 

A deed poll is one which binds only the party making and executing it. 

A deed is construed in a manner favorable to its validity, and is gov¬ 
erned by the law of the place where the land is situated as to form and 
requirements. 

It is the duty of the grantee to have the deed recorded immediately after 
it is delivered to him. If he should fail to do so, and the grantor should 
make another conveyance of the same property to a third party who was 
ignorant of the first sale, he would lose his title, provided said third party 
recorded his deed immediately. For example, if A sells land to B, who 
neglects to record his deed, and A afterward, and before B’s deed is re¬ 
corded, sells the same property to C, w r ho is ignorant of the sale to B, B 
would lose his title to the property, provided C recorded his deed before 
B’s was on record. The deed should be recorded in the office of the 
register or clerk of the county where the property is situated. 

WARRANTY DEED. 

This indenture made this day of in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and between A. B., of the city of and State of mer¬ 
chant [and C. B. his wife], of the first part, and E. F., of in said county, 
farmer, of the second part, Witnesseth: That the said party [or parties] of 
the first part, in consideration of the sum of dollars, lawful money pf 
the United States, to him [or them] in hand paid by the said party of the 
second part, at or before the ensealing and delivery of these presents, the 
receipt w r hereof is hereby acknowledged, and the said party of the second 
part, his executors and administrators, forever released and discharged 
from the same, by these presents, has [or have] granted, bargained, sold, 
aliened, remised, released, conveved and confirmed, and by these presents 
does [or do] grant, bargain, sell, alien, remise, release, convey and con¬ 
firm unto the said party of the second part, and to his heirs and assigns 
forever, all [here insert description], together with all and singular the 
tenements, hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any 
wise appertaining; and the reversion and reversions, remainder and re¬ 
mainders, rents, issues and profits thereof; and also all the estate, right, 
title, interest [dower and right of dower], property, possession, claim and 
demand whatsoever, both in law and in equity, of the said party [or par¬ 
ties] of the first part, of, in, and to the above-granted premises and every 
part and parcel thereof, with the appurtenances. To have and to hold the 
above-mentioned and described premises, with the appurtenances and 
every part thereof, to the said party of the second part, his heirs and 
assigns, forever. 

And the said A. B. and his heirs, the above-described and hereby 
granted and released premises, and every part and parcel thereof, with 
the appurtenances, unto the said party of tne second part, his heirs and 
assigns, against the said party [or parties] of the first part, and his [or 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


m 


their] heirs, and against all and every person and persons whomsoever, 
lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof, shall and will 
warrant and forever defend. 

In witness whereof the said party [or parties] of the first part has [or 
have] hereunto set his hand and seal [or their hands and seals] the day and 
year first above written. 

[Signatures and seals.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signature of witness.] 


QUIT-CLAIM DEED. 

Know all men by these presents that I [or we], A. B., of county 
of State of [and G. B. his wife], in consideration of dollars to me [or 
us] paid by E. F. of the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, have 
remised, released, and forever quit-claimed, and by these presents do for 
myself, my [or ourselves, our] heirs, executors and administrators, remise, 
release, and forever quit-claim unto the said E. F., his heirs and assigns, 
forever, ail such right, title, interest [dower, right of dower], property, 

E ossession, claim, and demand as I [or as we, or either of us] have or to 
ave in or to all [insert description of premises.] . 

To have and to hold said premises unto the said E. F., his heirs, and 
assigns, to his and their only proper use and behoof forever, so that neither 
I, the said A. B., or any other person in my name and behalf [or we, the 
said A. B. and C. D., or either of us, or any other person in our or either ot 
our names and behalf], shall or will hereafter claim or demand any right or 
title to the premises or any part thereof, but they and every of them shall 
by these presents be excluded and forever barred. 

In witness whereof, I [or we] have hereunto set my [or our] hand[s] 

and seal[s] this day of 18 _ rci i n 

L J [Signatures.] [Seals.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signatures of witnesses.] 


Acknowledgment and Proof of Deeds.— Acknowledgment is the 
act of a person who has executed a deed in going before a competent officer 
or court and admitting the genuineness of the instrument and that it was 
made voluntarily. This acknowledgment is certified to by the court or offi¬ 
cer who takes it, according to the laws of the State in which the acknowl¬ 
edgment is taken. 

The deed or instrument is proved when the subscribing witness or wit¬ 
nesses come before the proper officer and declare its genuineness, and the 
declaration is certified to by the officer. 

The certificate of the officer can not be altered after it is made unless 

there is a re-acknowledgment. 

The acknowledgment authorizes the deed to be read in evidence without 
other proof of its execution, and at the same time entitles it to be placed on 
record, and should be required by the purchaser for his own security. 

The officer taking the acknowledgment should sign his name and official 


It is always prudent to have a witness to a deed, even though it is ac¬ 
knowledged, although this necessity has been done away with by statutes 
in many of the States. If the deed is not acknowledged, always have two 
witnesses. 


Delivery. —Delivery is the act of transfer of the written title to prop- 
erty (deeds), or of written promises to pay (notes), or of property itsel ac¬ 
cording to contract. It is the final act which completes the contract and 
makes it irrevocable. When the deed is finally and intentionally handed to 


* 


454 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

the purchaser, his title to the land becomes as good as it formerly was 
when he was actually given a portion of a sod, or a twig, and put into pos¬ 
session before witnesses who were told of the intention of the parties, but a 
deed may be delivered in trust, conditionally, not to be complete till the 
happening of some specified event. 

There is no particular form or method of delivery, which may be as va¬ 
rious as the ways of giving any other paper, though an intention to deliver 
with all that it implies must exist, and the receiver must accept, with the 
intention of taking possession of the property conveyed, before the delivery 
is complete. 

Delivery of a note is entirely similar, though it is oftener conditional, 
and more apt to be imperfect or fraudulent, the paper being less formal. 
But the imperfect delivery of a note, check, or draft may become binding 
on the maker if the paper gets into the hands of a holder in good faith who 
paid value for it, on account of the negotiable quality of the paper. Great 
care should be taken not to give up notes, etc., until the consideration of 
them is fully realized, or the contract under which they are given is thor¬ 
oughly understood and complete. Notes should not be given in advance of 
a definite settlement or to evidence debts, for many persons have thus been 
held firmly to a promise they did not intend to make. A contract of sale, 
exchange, or gift is completed by the delivery of the personal property it¬ 
self, which is simply giving it up into the possession or dominion of the 
proper party. It may be symbolical, as by the delivery of a key; the affix¬ 
ing of a mark, by measuring out or setting aside, but always with the in¬ 
tention to part with the property. 

The contract of sale is not, however, always followed by delivery, as the 
article may by agreement remain with the seller. Such agreements are 
often given to defraud creditors, however, and should be closely watched. 

Contracts.—A contract is an agreement between two or more parties 
to do or not to do some particular thing. 

Contracts are made orally, in writing, or in writing under seal. There 
must be parties to a contract, a consideration, assent of the parties, and 
subject matter. 

If any one of these essentials is wanting there is no contract. The thing 
to be done must be one not forbidden by law. If the assent of either party 
is obtained through fraud, fear, or compulsion, the contract is voidable, for 
the reason that the assent must be voluntary. There is always an implied 
consideration in a written contract under seal. There must be a meeting of 
the minds to make a valid contract. That is to say, the parties must under¬ 
stand the same thing in the same sense. The intention of the parties 
should be expressed clearly, and care should be taken to avoid the use of 
any doubtful word or words. The contract is governed by the law of the 
place where made, or the law of the place where it is to be performed. The 
parties to a contract must be capable of contracting. 

Suits are constantly arising from the difficulty of learning the intention 
of the parties to the contract, because of the use of words whose meaning is 
doubtful or indefinite. 

As a general rule, a contract can not be enforced against married women, 
a person under twenty-one years of age, an imbecile, an insane person, or 
against a person who was grossly intoxicated at the time the contract was 
made. It is advisable to have all contracts reduced to writing and signed. 
Each party should keep a copy of the contract. 


t 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


455 


The following agreements are void, nnless there is some note or memo¬ 
randum thereof in writing expressing the consideration, and signed by the 
person to be charged therewith, or his authorized agent: 

Every special promise to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of 
another person. 

Any agreement made upon the consideration of marriage, unless it is a 
mutual agreement to marry. 

Any agreement which by its terms is not be performed within a year 
from the time it was made. 

Every contract for the sale of goods, wares, or merchandise for the price 
of fifty dollars or upward is void, unless the buyer shall accept and actually 
receive part of the goods sold, or pay some part of the purchase-money, or 
there be some memorandum of the contract in writing signed by the party 
to be charged by such contract, or his authorized agent. 

All contracts in reference to land, except leases for a period not longer 
that one year, must be in writing. If the party to be charged can not write, 
his mark will be sufficient to bind him to the contract. Where the parties 
have reduced their intentions to writing, the written instrument is consid¬ 
ered the best evidence of what was intended. 

In case of important contracts it is usual to affix seals to the instrument, 
and have the execution acknowledged. 

GENERAL, FORM OF CONTRACT, WITH PROVISION FOR LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN 

CASE OF BREACH. 

This agreement, made the day of one thousand eight hundred 
and by and between A. B., of the town of county of State of 
of the first Dart, and C. D., of county of State of of the second 
part, Witnesseth: That the said party of the second part covenants and 
agrees to and with the party of the first part, to [here insert the subject- 
matter of the agreement]. And the said party of the first part covenants 
and agrees to pay unto the said party of the second part, for the same [here 
insert the consideration and the terms of payment]. 

And for the true and faithful performance of all and every of the cove¬ 
nants and agreements above mentioned, the parties to these presents bind 
themselves, each unto the other, in the penal sum of dollars, as liqui¬ 
dated damages, to be paid by the failing party. 

In witness whereof, the parties to these presents have hereunto set their 
hands and seals, the day and year first above written. 

[Signatures.] [Seals.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signatures of witnesses.] 

Consideration. —A contract or promise, for which there is no consid¬ 
eration, can not be enforced at law. 

Considerations are good or valuable. A good consideration, is one of 
natural affection, love, or of blood. A valuable consideration is such as 
marriage, money, or something which can be converted into money. 

A valuable consideration is the only one which is valid against a third 

party. *. 

Mutual promises, to submit a matter in dispute to arbitration, are a valid 

consideration. 

A promise not to take legal proceedings upon a valid claim is a valid 
consideration for a promise. 

Trust and confidence are sufficient consideration. As for example, it 
A intrusts B with money or property to be delivered safely and in good 
order to C, the trust is a sufficient consideration for the promise ot B to so 


466 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


deliver, and B would be liable lor loss or damage which occurred through 
his negligence, even though his promise were gratuitous. 

A promise for a promise is a good consideration. For example, A prom¬ 
ises to teach B a certain trade. This is a consideration for a promise on B’s 
part to remain with A a certain length of time to learn the trade and serve 
him during that time. 

As a general rule, the contract is void if any part of the consideration 
is illegal. If the consideration proves to be worthless, the contract is not 
binding. 

Work and services rendered at the request of the promisor, are a suffi¬ 
cient consideration for a promise. 

Assignments.—An assignment is the transferring and making over to 
another the entire interest which the person making the assignment has in 
the thing assigned. 

The person making the assignment is called the assignor , the person to 
whom it is made the assignee. 

Every demand connected with the right of real or personal property, such 
as estates, interests in lands, a term of years, rent to become due, debt for 
goods sold and delivered evidenced by book account, a judgment, a bond, 
balance of account, policy of insurance, promissory notes, checks, bills of 
exchange, etc., may be assigned. 

The pay or commission of an army or navy officer can not be assigned, 
nor can the salaries of judges, nor a right of action for a tort or fraud. 

The proper technical words in an assignment are, “ assign, transfer, and 
set over,” although any words which show the intent of the parties to make 
a complete transfer of their interests will answer. 

An assignment will not hold good if not made in good faith, and any 
party in interest may object to it, and if he can show fraud on the part of 
the assignor it will be overturned. 

The assignee of a debt should immediately after the assignment give 
notice of that fact to the debtor. 

If the debtor has no notice of the assignment and pays the assignor, he 
is released from his indebtedness, but not so if notice has been given 
him. 

The assignee takes the debt subject to all the claims which the debtor 
may have had against the assignor at the time of the assignment, or before 
the debtor had notice of said assignment, and has no better title than the 
assignor had. 

Formerly an assignee was not allowed to sue in his own name, but by 
statutes in some of the States, especially in New York, Maryland, Ohio, 
Missouri, California, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the assignee of 
a debt may bring suit in his own name in a court of law. 

The assignment should be in writing. This is not always necessary, but 
it is always better in order to be on the safe side. 

A consideration for the assignment is only necessary for the purpose of 
sustaining it against creditors and third parties. 

An assignment of a mortgage should always be acknowledged in order 
that it may be recorded, and it is advisable to have it sealed. 

In order to make a valid assignment of an insurance policy the consent 
of the insurers should be previously obtained. 

The rules governing assignment of an insurance policy, if an assignment 
is allowed, will be found incorporated in the body of the policy. 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


457 


FORM OF ASSIGNMENT WHICH MAY BE ENDORSED ON THE INSTRUMENT 

ASSIGNED. 

In consideration of the sum of dollars [or For valued received], I 

hereby assign the within [here give the name of the instrument assigned] 
unto John Smith. 

[Date.] [Signature.] 

Bills of Sale. —A bill of sale is a written conveyance of personal prop¬ 
erty, by which one person transfers all his right and interest in the prop¬ 
erty to another. 

It is advisable to have the conveyance under seal, although it is not al¬ 
ways necessary. 

If there is a delivery or part payment, no written instrument in needed; 
but it is always better to have one as evidence of title to the property. 

If the seller continues in possession of the property after the sale, the 
sale is presumptively void as to subsequent purchasers and mortgagors 
who were ignorant of the transaction, unless the purchaser can show that 
there was no fraud in his purchase, and that he had good reasons for allow¬ 
ing the seller to retain possession of it. 

A COMMON FORM. 

I, Joseph Gay, of the town of county of State of party of 
the first part, in consideration of the sum of dollars, lawful money of 
the United States, to me in hand paid by John Crump, of the town of 
county of State of do grant, bargain, sell, and convey to said 
John Crump [here name in detail articles or interest sold]. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this day 

0 £ 

[Signature.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence oi 
[Names of witnesses.] 

Power of Attorney. —A power of attorney is a written instrument by 
which one person is empowered to act for another. A person acting under 
a power of attorney is called an attorney in fact. The power-of attorney to 
authorize a person to execute a sealed instrument for his principal, should 
be under seal, executed, attested, and acknowledged the same as a deed. 
These powers are general and special, and empower the holders thereof to 
act the same as general or special agents, and are subject to the same laws 
of revocation as are the powers of agents. 

A party dealing with an attorney in fact should examine his power, to 
see that he is authorized so to act. 

All conditions in the power should be strictly followed out. 

By the statutes of New York, if one of the attorneys in fact should die, 
the survivors can continue to act. 

All the attorneys should join in executing their power. 

In a conveyance of land the attorney should always use the name of liis 
principal in the body of the instrument, and execute and acknowledge it 
in the name of his principal, with his own name as attorney. An attorney 
is not authorized to appoint a substitute, unless he is specially empowered 
to do so by his power of attorney. 

A SHORT FORM. 

Know all men that I, John Smith, of the town of in the county of 
State of do hereby make, constitute, and appoint James Brown, of the 
town of county of State of my true and lawful attorney for 


458 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


me and in my name to [here insert what the attorney is authorized to do] 
and to do and perform all acts or things in the execution of the aforesaid 
business, as fully and completely as I might do were I present. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this day 
of 18 . 

[Signed by person granting the power.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 

[Signature of witnesses.] 

Wills.— A will is the disposition of one’s property to take effect after 
death. 

Any one of sound mind and of the age of twenty-one years, or majority, 
may make a will of real property. 

A will must be signed by the party in the presence of witnesses who see 
the party sign, and who must sign in his presence and in the presence of 
each other. 

The party must request the witnesses to sign his will. 

The number of witnesses required in most of the States is two, but three 
are required in the Bis trie t of Columbia, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, 
Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, 
New Mexico, and South Carolina. 

A gift of real property is termed a devise; a gift of personal property a 
bequest or legacy. 

All persons may take personal property by bequest, and all persons 
capable in law of holding real property may take real property by devise. 

Corporations, however, cannot take real property by devise, unless they 
are specially authorized to do so by their charters or other laws. And by 
a recent act in New York, it is provided that, no person having a husband, 
wife, child, or parent, shall devise or bequeath to any benevolent, charita¬ 
ble, literary, scientific, religious, or missionary society, association, or cor¬ 
poration, in trust or otherwise, more than one-half part of his or her estate, 
after the payment of debts; and such devise or bequest shall be valid to 
the extent of one-half and no more. 

Ne particular words are needed to constitute a will. With an exception 
in favor of soldiers and sailors, who from necessity the law allows to make 
wills verbally—called nuncupative wills--there must be a written statement 
of the testator’s wish, signed by him. Any statement, however, which 
makes the testamentary character apparent, is sufficient to give the instru¬ 
ment the character of a will. 

In no case does a will have any operation until a testator’s death. And 
it may be made upon condition, so that even then it will not take effect ex¬ 
cept under the circumstances specified. Two persons can make a conjoint 
or mutual will. 

It is very common to commence wills with a formal preamble, reciting 
the testator’s capacity to make a will, and the feelings which move him to 
the act. These phrases are not, however, of any legal efficacy, and may be 
inserted or not at pleasure. It is advisable to affix a seal to a will, although 
it is not required in all of the States, to give validity to it. 

Wills may be avoided by cancellation or revocation, or by the execution 
of a will of later date. Marriage, with the birth of issue, amounts to an im¬ 
plied revocation. 

A bequest to a wife in lieu of her dower must be clearly expressed, or 
she will be entitled to both; provided that the claim of dower is not incon¬ 
sistent with the provisions of the will. The courts, however, require clear 


LAW FOR TEE MASSES. 459 

proof of the inconsistency. Such bequest, however, will not deprive her of 
her dower, but she has her choice between the two. 

A codicil is a supplement or an addition made to a will by the testator, 
annexed to the same, and to be taken as a part of it; being intended for its 
explanation or alteration, or to make some addition to, or substraction from, 
the former dispositions of the testator. It should be executed in the same 
manner and with the same formality as the original will. 

A codicil, like a will, may (unless controlled by statute) be either written 
or nuncupative. 

Wills should be drawn carefully so as to express plainly and exactly the 
wishes of the testator. 

Soldiers and sailors in active service may make a declaration of their 
will by word of mouth to any witnesses who may be convenient. There 
should be three witnesses. The witnesses reduce the oral declaration to 
writing and attest it. 

In general, a beneficial devise or bequest to a subscribing witness is 
void, unless there are the requisite number of other competent subscribing 
witnesses, so that the will may be proved without resort to the testimony of 
the interested witness. 

It is usual and proper, but not essential, to write at the end of the will, 
below or at one side of the testator’s signature, a statement of the place, 
time, purpose and circumstances of the signatures and execution, and to 
let the witnesses sign below. This statement is called the attestation 
clause. The advantages ot such a statement is in facilitating the probate 
of the will. If a witness has no recollection of his attesting the will, but 
recognizes his name under such a statement as written by himself, and 
testifies that he should not have written it there had he not known the 
statement to be true, the courts will generally receive this as supplying his 
defect of memory. 

The attestation must, except in a few States, be in the presence of the 
testator, but need not necessarily be in the same room, if he is so placed as 
to see the act. Against the name of every witness his residence or address 
should be written. In some of the States this is required by law, and in all 
cases it is convenient and always advisable; but the absence of this, even 
where it is required, does not invalidate the will. 

WILL OF BOTH BEAL AND PEKSONAL ESTATE. 

I, A. B., of , in the cTounty of , and State of , merchant, 
being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do make, publish and de¬ 
clare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills 
by me at any time heretofore made. 

And as to my worldly estate, and all the property, real, personal, or 
mixed, of which I shall die seized and possessed, or to which I shall be en¬ 
titled at the time of my decease, I devise, bequeath and dispose thereof in 
the manner following, to wit: 

My will is, that all my just debts and funeral expenses shall, by my 
executors hereinafter named, be paid out of my estate, as soon after my 
decease as shall by them be found convenient. 

I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, C. B., all my household 
furniture, my horse and chaise, and the chaise harness; and also 
dollars in money, to be paid to her by my executors, hereinafter named, 
within months after my decease; to have and to hold the same to her 
and her executors, administrators and assigns forever. I also give to her 
the use, improvement and income of my dwelling-house, land, and its ap¬ 
purtenances, situated in aforesaid [describing the same], and my land 


460 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


situated in [describing the same], to have and to hold the same to her for 
and during the term of her natural life. 

I give and bequeath to my honored mother, E. B., dollars in 

money, to be paid to her by my executors hereinafter appointed, within 
months after my decease; to be for the sole use of herself, her execu¬ 
tors, administrators and assigns. 

I give and bequeath to my daughter, L. B., my shares of the stock 
of the President, Directors, and Company of the Bank in 

County of , and State of , which are of the par value of 

dollars; to have and to hold the same together with all the profits and 
income thereof, to her, the said L. B., her heirs, executors, administrators 
and assigns, to her and their use and benefit forever. 

I give, devise and bequeath to my son, H. B., the reversion or remain¬ 
der of my dwelling or mansion house and its appurtenances, situate in 
aforesaid [describing it], and all profits, income, and advantage that 
may result therefrom, from and after the decease of my beloved wife, C. B., 
to have and to hold the same to him, the said H. B., his heirs and assigns, 
from and after the decease of my said wife, to his and their use and behoof 
forever. 

I give, devise and bequeath to my son, J. B., the reversion or remainder 
of my land situated in [describing it], and its appurtenances, and all the 
profits, income and advantage that may result therefrom, from and after 
the decease of my beloved wife, C. B., to have and to hold the same to the 
said J. B., his heirs and assigns, from and after the decease of my said wile, 
to his and their use and behoof forever. 

All the rest and residue of my estate, real, personal and mixed, of which 
I shall die seized and possessed, or to which I shall be entitled at my de¬ 
cease, I give, devise and bequeath, to be equally divided between and 
among my said sons, H. B. and J. B. 

And, lastly, I do nominate and appoint my said sons, H. B. and J. B., to 
be the executors of this my last will and testament. 

In witness whereof, I, the skid A. B., have to this my last will and 
testament, consisting of sheets of paper, subscribed my name and 
affixed my seal this day of , in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and 


Signed, sealed, published, and de- ' 
dared by the said A. B., as and 
for his last will and testament, 
in the presence of us, who at his 
request and in his presence, and 
in the presence of each other, 
have subscribed our names as 
witnesses thereunto. 

residing at * in 
[Signatures of witnesses.] residing at , in 

residing at , in 


A. B. [Seal.] 


county. 

county. 

county. 


Executors and Administrators.— An executor is a person whom 
the testator appoints by his will to carry out his wishes therein expressed. 

As a general rule, all persons capable of making wills and many others 
can be executors. 

Executors can be appointed by will or codicil; explicit words of ap¬ 
pointment are not necessary, although usual. 

An administrator is a person appointed by the proper court to take 
charge of and distribute the estate of an intestate or of a testator who has 
no executor. An administrator with the wiLL annexed is a person appointed 
by the court to manage and distribute the estate of the testator when no 
executor is named in the will, or the person appointed in the will refuses 
to act, or the executor dies before he has completed his duties as such ex- 



LAW FOR THE MASSES. 461 

eoutor. Both executors and administrators are regarded as the personal 
representatives of the deceased, having in their hands his means for the 
purpose of paying his debts, completing his contracts, and of carrying into 
effect his will if he has left one. 

The proper persons to take out letters of administration are, as a gen¬ 
eral rule, the husband or wife; then the children, male preferred to female; 
then the father or mother; then the grandparents; and in many of the 
States a creditor can apply for letters of administration if the proper per¬ 
sons refuse or delay to apply. In general, anybody can be an adminis¬ 
trator who can make a contract, but the above parties have the preference. 

The authority of an executor dates from the moment of his testator’s 
death; that of an administrator does not exist until letters have been 
granted to him, and then it reverts back to the time of the death of the de¬ 
ceased, and then only for the purpose of protecting the estate. 

The executor is, as a general rule, required to give a bond before letters 
testamentary are issued to him, unless this requirement is done away with 
by statute, or the testator expressly directs in his will that no bond be re¬ 
quired. 

A bond is always required of an administrator. 

The duties of executors and administrators being so similar, what fol¬ 
lows will be applicable to both. 

Immediately after letters testamentary or of administration are issued 
to a person he must prepare an inventory of the property and file it. He 
must pay the funeral expenses. Within a convenient time alter the death 
of the deceased he should collect the goods if he can do so peacefully; if 
not, he should take legal measures; he must collect the goods and chattels 
and the claims inventoried; he should give notice of his appointment as re¬ 
quired by statute, and should advertise for debts and credits; if he is an 
executor he must follow the directions of the will in reference to personal 
effects; but if an administrator, he must collect, appraise, and sell the 
whole; he must keep the money safely, and may be charged interest on it; 
he must pay the debts in the following order—first, funeral expenses, as 
referred to above; then United States, State, county, and town debts; then 
general creditors, after which the legacies are to be paid. If a sufficient 
amount to pay the debts of the deceased is not realized from the sale of 
personal property, an application is made to the court issuing the letters, 
for an order to be allowed to sell the real property. After payment of 
debts an account of proceeding must be filed in the court issuing the letters; 
this usually must be done within a year from time of entering on the duties. 
Neither an executor nor an administrator can act outside of the State in 
which he was appointed. If either, while in the performance of his duties, 
make a bill or note and signs it, adding, “ as executor,” or “as administra¬ 
tor,” he is personally liable, unless he expressly limits his promise to pay 
by the words, “if the assets be sufficient,” or some equivalent words, but 
such a note or bill would not be negotiable because on condition. 

Executors and administrators usually receive a commission for their ser¬ 
vices. If there are two or more executors and one of them die, the sur¬ 
vivors or survivor continue to act. If all die, an administrator is appointed 
by the court on the application of the proper person. 

The executor should notify all parties in interest that on a certain day 
he proposes to produce the will for probate and apply for letters. 

Both executors and administrators should give notice to the parties in 
interest of their intention to file a final account and ask for a discharge. 


4G2 CYCLOP JED IA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


After the expiration of a certain length of time, usually one year, any party 
in interest can apply to the court issuing the letters to compel the executor 
or administrator to account. 


FORM OF A PETITION FOR LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION. 

[To be addressed to the Court of Ordinary, Court of Probate, Orphans’ 

Court, County Court, or Surrogate (as the case may be), of the proper 

County.] 

To the Court of Ordinary of in the State of : 

The petition of widow [or son or daughter, etc., as the case may 
be], of late of deceased; respectfully shows: That on or about 
the day of 18 , the said died, leaving goods, chattels, rights, 
credits, and real estate in aforesaid; that, to the best.of the knowledge 
and belief of your petitioner, no last will and testament was left by the 
said deceased; that the deceased has left a widow your petitioner, 
aged years, and two children, aged years, and aged years; 
and that the deceased was, at and immediately preceding his death, an in¬ 
habitant of 

Your petitioner therefore prays that letters of administration may be 
granted on the estate of the said deceased, and that he [or she] may be ap¬ 
pointed the administrator thereof. 

[Signature.] 

Dated this day of a. d. 18 . 


FORM OF ADVERTISEMENT FOR GRANTING LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION. 

Notice. —Whereas letters of administration upon [or testamentary to, in 
in case of an executor] the estate of late of have been granted to the 
subscriber, all persons indebted to the said estate are requested to make 
immediate payment, and those having claims or demands against the same, 
will make known the same without delay to 

[Signature.] 

Dated this day of 18 . Administrator. 


4 

INVENTORY OF PROPERTY. 


A true and perfect inventory and just appraisement of all and singular 
the goods and chattels, rights and credits, which were of late of 
county of and State of deceased, at the time of his death, to wit: 

[Here append the inventory, estimating bonds, notes, book-accounts, 
and the like, under the headings of “good,” “ doubtful,” and “ bad.” If 
real estate is to be appraised, include that in the same inventory, adding 
up, however, the inventory of the personal property separately.] 

Taken and appraised by us, the day of 18 . 


County, ss. 


[Signatures.] 


Personally appeared before me, Justice of the Peace [or any proper 
officer], in and for the said county and who upon their solemn oath 
[or affirmation], do depose and say, that they, at the request of [as the case 
requires], did well and truly, and without prejudice or partiality, value and 
appraise the goods, chattels, and credits which were of deceased, as set 
forth in the inventory hereto annexed, and in all respects performed their 
duties as appraisers, to the best of their skill and judgment. 

[Signatures.] 

Subscribed and sworn [or affirmed] to before me, this day of 
' 18 . 

[Name and title of officer.] 


APPOINTMENT OF APPRAISERS. 

Estate of deceased.—I, administrator of deceased, do hereby 

certify that I have selected and summoned [here insert names of persons 
summoned], disinterested and competent persons, to appraise the personal 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 463 

property elected to be taken and kept by widow of under the [recit¬ 
ing section and Act under which claim is made]. 

Witness my hand this day of 18 

[Signature.] 


FORM FOR APPRAISEMENT. 

The undersigned having been selected and summoned by adminis¬ 
trator of deceased, to appraise the personal property retained by 
widow of deceased, under the provisions ot [reciting as above], and 
having been respectively sworn [or affirmed], do value and appraise the 
same as follows, to wit: [inserting articles retained and value of each]. 

Witness our hands and seals this day of 18 . 

[Signatures.] [Seal.] 
[Seal.] 
[Seal.] 

Partition. —Partition is the division which is made between several 
persons, of lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or of goods and chattels 
which belong to them as co-heirs or co-proprietors. The division is either 
voluntary or compulsory. 

Voluntary partition is made by the mutual consent of the owners, and 
is effected by mutual conveyances, without covenants of warranty, or by 
release to each person of the share which he is to hold, executed by the 
other owners. , 

Compulsory partition is made without regard to the wishes of one or 
more of the owners, and is effected by special laws provided for the pur¬ 
pose in each State. 

Trusts and Trustees. —A trust is a right of property, real or per¬ 
sonal, held by one party for the benefit of another. It is founded on confi¬ 
dence, and out of it grow two different estates, or property rights, the legal 
title of which is in the trustee, and the equitable or beneficial title in the 
person intended to be benefited by the property. 

The objects for which trusts in lands may be expressly created are: 1. 
To sell lands for the benefit of creditors. 2. To sell, mortgage or lease 
lands for the benefit of legatees, or for the purpose of satisfying any charge 
thereon. 3. To receive the rents and profits of lands, and apply them to the 
use of some person named in the instrument creating the trust. 4. To 
receive the rents and profits of lands, and accumulate them. 

Express trusts are created in express terms, in the deed, writing or will. 
They are usually found in sealed agreements, such as marriage articles, 
agreements for the purchase of lands, assignments for the payment of debts, 
and for carrying out bequests in wills to charities. 

There are also implied trusts which are raised or implied by law from 
certain transactions, mostly being the expression of legal duty. 

No particular form of words is necessary to the creation of a trust. Oral 
words may be sufficient to create a trust in personal property, but writing 
is necessary in the case of real property. 

The person holding property for the benefit of another is called a trustee. 

Executors, administrators, guardians, and assignees are trustees, to a 
certain extent, and the law of trusts is applicable to them. 

A trustee is held to strict honesty in the disposition of the property. He 
can not retain any of the profits nor purchase the property upon its sale, 
nor can he speculate with the trust property. 


464 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

A trustee is chargeable for the good and business-like management of 
the trust property. 

The court will appoint new trustees on the death or disability of the 
original or any succeeding trustees. 

A trustee may renounce or refuse to accept a trust, but having entered 
into it he can not rid himself of its duties unless he is legally discharged by 
the court, or the consent of all concerned. He can not delegate his powers 
to another, for the office is one of personal confidence. 

Where there are several trustees they must act jointly by the majority, 
and can not act and bind the trust separately, though executors may. 

Marriage. —Marriage is a contract made in due form of law, by which 
a man and woman reciprocally agree to live with each other during their 
joint lives, and to discharge toward each other the duties imposed by law 
on the relation of husband and wife. 

The promises must be reciprocal; that is, there must be a promise on 
the part of each party. 

It is not necessary that the promises to marry be made at the same 
time, provided that the offer is accepted before being recalled, or within a 
reasonable time after being made. 

The contract to marry is completed by an acceptance of the offer. 

After the contract is made, either party can bring an action for a breach 
of it on the part of the other party, unless the breach is committed by a 
party under legal age. 

A marriage contract differs from other contracts, as it can not be re¬ 
scinded at the will of the parties. 

All persons are able to contract marriage, unless they are under the legal 
age or unless there are other disabilities. 

At common law the age of consent is twelve for females and fourteen 
for males. If either party marries before arriving at the age of consent, 
the younger can, on arriving at that age, avoid the marriage. 

If either party is an idiot, or insane, the marriage is void. 

Force or fraud renders a marriage voidable; that is, it may be set aside, 
and a divorce must be granted on the application of the injured party only. 

The parties must be willing to enter into the relation of husband and 
wife to make the marriage valid. If the willingness to marry is obtained 
through fraud, the marriage may be set aside. The force or fraud must be 
extreme and certain, otherwise the marriage will not be set aside. 

Consanguinity and affinity within the rules prescribed by the laws of the 
various States and Territories render a marriage void. 

Corporeal impotence renders a marriage voidable. This impotence must 
have existed at the time of the marriage, and must be incurable. 

If either party has a husband or wife living, the marriage is void. 

The parties must actually make a contract of marriage. The require¬ 
ments and form will be governed by the laws of the State where the cere¬ 
mony is performed. 

The following are the proper persons to perform the ceremony of mar¬ 
riage: 

Ministers of the gospel and priests of every denomination, mayors, re¬ 
corders, and aldermen of cities, judges of county courts, and justices of the 
peace. 

When the marriage is performed by a magistrate, no particular form is 
required, except the parties must solemnly declare in the presence of the 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 465 

magistrate and a witness that they take each other as husband and wife. 
There should always be one witness to the ceremony. 

The person performing the ceremony must, on application of either 
party, furnish a certificate signed by him, which must give the names and 
residences of the parties; the names and residences of the attesting wit¬ 
nesses; and the time and place of the marriage. 

The statutes in some of the States require licenses to be taken out and 
notice of the intended marriage to be given. 

In nearly all civil cases marriage may be proved by cohabitation, ac¬ 
knowledgment* by the parties, reception by the family, and general 
reputation. 

Dower.— Dower is the provision which the law makes for a widow out 
of the lands or tenements of her husband for her support and the nurture 
of her children. The word “ dower” has reference to real estate exclu¬ 
sively. 

In order to entitle the wife to dower there must have been a legal mar¬ 
riage which has not been dissolved, seizure of the husband, and his death. 

In those States and Territories where dower is allowed, it is necessary 
that the wife join in a conveyance of the husband’s real estate, in order to 
give the grantee a good title. In general, if there is no statement in the 
conveyance that the wife releases her “ dower and right of dower,” she can 
enforce it at the death of her husband. 

The wife’s dower or right of dower may be lost or barred by joining 
with her husband in a conveyance of land; by adultery on her part, and sub¬ 
sequent divorce, by foreclosure of a mortgage given by a husband before 
marriage, or by husband and wife after marriage; by a release of dower, 
and by a marriage settlement made previous to marriage in lieu of dower. 

The wife must have been of age when she joined with her husband in a 
conveyance of land in order to bar her dower or right of dower. The 
widow has dower in that part of the estate which remains after all the en¬ 
cumbrances and liens against the same have been paid. 

Dower is allowed in all the States and Territories except Arizona, Cali¬ 
fornia, Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas and 
Utah. 

In Nevada, on the death of the husband, the wife takes the entire com¬ 
munity property [that is, property owned by the husband and wife in com¬ 
mon], after paying the debts, family allowances, and expenses of adminis¬ 
tration. 

In New Mexico the wife has no dower except her private property, but 
she has one-half of all the other property remaining after paying the debts 
of the estate. 

In Washington Territory the wife takes one-half of the common property, 
subject to the debts of both. 

In Wyoming Territory the wife takes the entire estate, both real and 
personal, after paying the debts, provided that the estate does not exceed 
the sum of $10,000. 

Husband and Wife _The husband is bound to provide his wife with 

all the necessaries of life as far as compatible with his means and their 
position in life. 

If he furnishes a home for his wife, he cannot be held for her board if 
she does not occupy it. He can purchase and sell personal property with- 


466 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

out her consent, and can purchase real property, but cannot sell it free 
from her claims without her consent, as she has a dower right in it. This 
right of dower has been abolished in some of the States, and where such is 
the case he can act as freely with his real as with his personal property. 

As a general rule, the wife’s personal property belongs to the husband, 
unless there is some statute to the contrary; and at common law, if a child 
is born alive before the death of the wife, he has a life estate in her real 
property. 

The rights of the husband over the wife’s property depend largely on 
the statutes of the different States. 

The wife can call on the husband to furnish her with the necessary food 
and clothing according to his means and their position in life, and if he 
neglects or refuses to furnish them, she can get them on his account, and 
he will be bound to pay lor them. She is entitled to dower in all the real 
property of which he died seized. Under the common law, by marriage 
the wife loses the title to her personal property and the use of her real 
property. 

Parent and Child. —The parent is under legal duty to support the 
minor child. It is now held by high authority that a minor child who is not 
supported by its parent may purchase necessaries on credit, and the 
tradesman may then sue the parent, on the theory of an implied contract, 
but if the parent supplies reasonable necessaries the tradesman cannot hold 
the parent liable. If the child is in better circumstances than the parent, 
the father will not, as a general rule, be obliged to support it. 

No man is bound to support the children of his wife by a former hus¬ 
band, nor can he compel them to pay him for their support if he provides 
for them. 

The child cannot compel its parent to educate it. The child has a claim 
on its parent’s estate for bare maintenance only. 

The parent is not liable for tbe wrongful acts of the child. The father 
has the right to the custody of the child against all persons except the 
mother, and between him and her the court will decide. 

The father has a right to the services of the child; consequently, if it be 
employed by another person, the father can collect its wages. The parent 
may give the child its time, in which case the child would be entitled to its 
wages. 

The parent can bring suit for personal injury to the child. 

The child is obliged to support its indigent parent if it is able to do so, 
but cannot be compelled to pay bills which the parent may contract. This 
obligation to support an indigent parent is enforced by the Superintendent 
of the Poor. 

Divorce.—Divorce is the dissolution or partial suspension by law of the 
marriage relation. Marriage is often called a contract, but it is one that 
establishes a relation or status and cannot be broken or dissolved by 
mutual consent, nor is the wrong-doing of either party sufficient to 
authorize a dissolution or break the contract until a solemn judgment of the 
court or act of legislature formally dissolve the relation. So that usually, 
if there is no defence to a suit for divorce, the case does not go by default* 
but is heard, so far as to show its justice or otherwise, and the desire of 
both parties for the same result, going so far as to produce connivance 
between them, is ground for denying the divorce. If the offence has been 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 467 

forgiven or condoned, none is granted. So, if the cause is adultery and 
both are guilty of the same offence. 

A degree of the nullity of a marriage is commonly called a divorce. It is 
granted when one of the parties is shown to have been married to a living 
party and not divorced, or the marriage was only pretended, forced or 
fraudulent, or between parties within the prohibited relationship, but these 
are also general causes of divorce. 

A legal separation which was formerly granted more frequently than at 
the present time, and which left the parties married with none of the rights 
of marriage, is called a divorce from bed and board. It grows less common 
as the laws of divorce grow more liberal. It was granted for causes that 
are now grounds for a full divorce. 

The canonical or scriptural ground of divorce is for adultery only; 
though impotency is also a general ground for divorce. Adultery and im- 
potency are, as a general rule, grounds for a divorce in all the States and 
Territories. 

Minors. —A minor, usually called an infant, is any person who has not 
yet attained the age of twenty-one years. 

A minor can not enter into a binding contract, except for necessaries. 

The contracts of a minor are not void, but voidable. 

A void contract is one binding on neither party, while a voidable con¬ 
tract is binding on the adult, but not on the minor, who may, during his 
minority, or within a reasonable time after he becomes of age, avoid the 
contract, if he so desires. A minor may make a binding contract for neces ¬ 
saries for both himself and for his wife and children. 

The word ‘ ‘ necessaries ” includes food, clothing, shelter, medical atten¬ 
dance, and other provisions for health and education. 

The “ necessaries ” for a minor depend largely upon his social position. 
In some cases watches and jewelry are regarded as necessaries. Although 
the law requires the minor to pay the value of the necessaries of life, it does 
not bind him necessarily to pay the price set by the tradesman. The 
jury are to determine the value and the price where the bill is dis¬ 
puted. 

If a minor gives his note for necessaries, although he is held on the note 
he can be compelled to pay only the value of the necessaries. If a minor 
enlists in the army or navy he can not avoid the enlistment. 

He is liable for his frauds and torts. 

If a minor fraudulently represents that he is above the age of twenty-one 
years, and by means of these representations obtains credit for goods not 
necessaries, an action for fraud may at once be maintained. 

If the articles are sold to a minor without fraudulent representations, 
and are in his possession when he rescinds the sale, the seller may retake 
them. 

If a minor makes a voidable contract and advances money on it, and 
afterward avoids it, he can not recover back the money so advanced. 

A minor can not disaffirm his contracts in relation to real property until 
he becomes of age. To confirm a contract touching real estate some posi¬ 
tive act is required. A minor or his personal representatives are the only 
ones who can take advantage of his minority. 

Ae a general rule, no male under the age of eighteen years nor female 
under the age of sixteen years can make a will of personal property. Both 
must be above the age of twenty-one years to will real property. 


468 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 


The responsibility of a minor under tho age of fourteen years rests on 
evidence of knowledge of the nature of the act committed. 

Servants.—A servant is a person who lets, hires, or engages his or her 
services to another to be employed at some particular occupation or at any 
occupation for the benefit of the employer, for a certain sum. 

The servant must render services for the entire time of the contract, and 
on this depends his right to recover wages. Thus, if A should agree to 
work for B for one year and should leave without cause before that period 
had expired, he could not recover on his contract. 

The master must employ the servant for the entire time of the contract, 
and should he discharge him without cause he would be liable to a suit for 
damages. It would be the duty of a servant in a case of this nature to en¬ 
deavor to secure employment and thus reduce the amount of the damages. 
If he should fail to secure employment, his damages would be the amount 
of wages he would have received had he not been discharged. 

If before the expiration of the term the servant leaves without cause he 
forfeits his wages. 

The master may dismiss the servant before the expiration of his time for 
willful disobedience, immoral conduct, habitual neglect, and the servant 
will not be entitled to recover his wages. 

The master must furnish the servant with suitable tools and implements 
of labor, and will be liable for injury which may result to the servant from 
any defectiveness in such tools which was known to him. If the servant’s 
negligence contributed to the injury he can not recover. 

If the tools and implements are not defective the master will not in gen¬ 
eral be responsible, as the servant is supposed to take into consideration 
the risks when he agrees for certain wages to accept the position. The 
master must use reasonable care in selecting competent and trusty servants. 

Where proper care has been exercised in the selection of servants, the 
master is not responsible for an injury caused to one servant by the care¬ 
lessness of another while both are engaged in the same service. 

The master is bound by all contracts made by the servant within the 
scope of his authority. He is not bound to provide medicines and attend¬ 
ance in case the servant is sick. 

The master is responsible for what his servant does during his regular 
employment. This is especially true in the fulfillment of contracts. 

He is liable for injuries occasioned by the neglect or unskillfulness or the 
injurious acts of the servant during his regular employment. 

In order to hold the master the act must be negligent and done during 
the servant’s employment. 

Real Property—Real property is something which may be held by 
tenure, or which will pass to the heir of the possessor at his death. 

It includes lands, tenements, and hereditaments, or, in other words, it 
includes the land and ordinarily whatever is erected, or growing, upon the 
same, as well as whatever is contained within it, or beneath its surface, as 
minerals, etc. Whatever is erected on the land by the owner is real prop¬ 
erty, and passes with the land. Growing crops planted by the owner of the 
soil are real property, but, if sold by him when fit for harvest, they become 
personal property. Manure made upon the farm in the usual manner, by 
consumption of its products, would be real property; so also whatever is 
fitted for, and actually applied to, real estate, if of permanent nature. 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


469 


Personal Property. —Personal property is the right or interest which 
a man has in things personal. It consists in general of everything which a 
man can move around with him, such as household furniture, checks, notes, 
bonds, mortgages, books, copyrights, patents, stock of goods in a store, cat¬ 
tle, tools, farming utensils, hay, fodder, and whatever erections he may put 
on land which have not become fixtures. 

The personal property of a person who dies without a will goes to the 
next of kin, and is divided up among them according to the statue of dis¬ 
tributions in the several States. 

Whatever is erected on the lands of another by permission of the owner 
is personal property; so also whatever a tenant erects for trade, domestic 
or manufacturing purposes, provided it can be removed without too great 
damage and is removed within a reasonable time. 

Growing crops sold by the owner when fit for harvesting are personal 
property; so also are crops planted by a tenant, if fit for harvesting, or if 
his term of tenancy is uncertain. 

Trees sold to be cut, without any right to have them stand to occupy the 
land and trees growing in a nursery, are personal property. 

Landlord and Tenant.-— The term “ Landlord and Tenant ” is used 
to denote the relation which exists by reason of a contract, expressed or 
implied, between two or more persons for the possession or occupation of 
lands, houses, or tenements, either for a certain fixed time, for life or at 
will 

The instrument for creating and defining this relation is called a lease. 

It is not necessary that the contract for hiring real estate be reduced to 
writing if it does not exceed one year. 

The relation of landlord and tenant is implied whenever there is an 
ownership of land in one, and an occupation of it by permission by another. 

The existence of this relation may be inferred by receiving rent from the 
occupant. 

If there is a lease, the rights and obligations of the parties are regarded 
as commencing from the date of the lease if no other time has been agreed 
upon, or from the delivery of the papers. If the lease be oral, it will go 
into effect from the day the tenant enters and takes possession. The right 
of possession remains in the landlord until the tenant enters, when the right 
passes over to him, and remains in him during his tenancy. 

The landlord can bring an action for any permanent injury to his prop¬ 
erty, such as destroying fences, cutting timber, or breaking doors and win¬ 
dows. He can go on the premises for the purpose of making repairs and 
demanding rent, but must use no force to effect an entrance. 

The landlord is not liable for any injury which may result to a stranger 
or to his property from neglect to repair, unless he expressly agreed to keep 
the premises in repair. 

If the landlord agrees to repair, and fails to do so, the tenant cannot quit 
and discharge himself from payment of rent unless it is agreed between the 
parties that a failure to repair on the part of the landlord is to have such 
effect. The agreement to pay rent and the agreement to repair are inde¬ 
pendent of each other. The landlord can not violate the rights of his ten¬ 
ant by a sale of the property. 

The tenant is entitled to quiet possession of the premises, and it is the 
duty of the landlord to see that he is not disturbed by one having a better 
title. The landlord must not disturb the tenant. Unless it is otherwise 


470 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

agreed upon, the landlord must pay the taxes and assessments on the 
premises. 

The landlord is under no obligation to repair unless he expressly agrees 
to do so, nor can the tenant make the repairs at the expense of the landlord. 

After the tenant has entered, the right of possession passes to him and 
he can bring an action against any person who trespasses on his premises, 
or disturbs him in his possession of them. He is obliged to repair fences 
and public roads, and is liable for injury which may result from their ruin¬ 
ous condition. 

The tenant must so manage his property that others are not mjured 
by it. 

He must do the property no substantial injury, and is bound to make 
general repairs without an agreement, and must keep the premises in ten- 
antable condition. He must keep the buildings wind and water tight, keep 
the fences in repair, and replace doors and windows broken during his 
occupation. He is not answerable for ordinary wear and tear, nor is he 
compelled to put a new roof on a building. 

The tenant of a farm is bound without express covenant to manage and 
cultivate it in a good and husbandlike manner, and to repair the fences and 
and to keep the dwelling-house in repair. The outbuildings and erections 
on the farm must be repaired and kept up by the landlord or the tenant, 
according to the custom of the country where the farm is situated. 

The tenant must preserve the timber and ornamental trees. 

His chief duty is to pay rent, and it is no answer to a demand for rent 
that the premises are not in a fit and proper state for the purposes for which 
they were hired. In the absence of a particular agreement between the 
parties, the tenant pays for the time he has had possession of the premises. 
If he is deprived of possession by a person having a title superior to that of 
his landlord, or if his occupation of the premises is rendered so uncom¬ 
fortable by acts on the part of the landlord as to justify his removal, he 
cannot be forced to pay rent. 

If the tenant substitutes another tenant in his stead without the consent 
of the landlord, he is still liable for the payment of rent. 

A tenancy for life terminates at the death of the life tenant. 

If a person enters into possession with the consent of the landlord, but 
without any express bargain, he becomes a tenant at will. 

A tenancy at will may be determined by the will of either party. 

Either party is entitled to reasonable notice before the tenancy can be 
terminated. 

It is a general rule that in the absence of statutes notice must cover the 
whole of one of the regular intervals between payments. 

A notice of but one month is sufficient in New York. 

A tenancy from year to year can only be terminated by a similar notice 
and for a like time. 

Where the lease is for a definite period, no notice is necessary. No par¬ 
ticular form of notice is necessary. 

In a notice to quit there must be a reasonable certainty in the descrip¬ 
tion of the premises of the parties and in the statement of the time when 
the tenant must quit. A tenancy may be terminated by a purchase of the 
property by the tenant, and also by a surrender of the lease by the tenant 
and an acceptance of it by the landlord. 

After the tenancy has ended, the landlord may re-enter upon the prem¬ 
ises if he can do so without violence. 


LAW FOB THE MASSES. 


471 


If the tenant holds over, the landlord should call in the law to assist 
him in getting possession. 

The tenant must yield up quiet possession. 

If a tenant’s estate is terminated by an uncertain event, as, 
for instance, if he is a tenant at will or from year to year, he is 
entitled to the crops growing at the time of the termination of the 
tenancy. 

Whatever the tenant erects on the premises with the consent of the land¬ 
lord, he can take away with him. Whatever he erects with the consent of 
the landlord for the purpose of improving the premises, he can remove at 
the expiration of his tenancy. In general it may be said that what¬ 
ever he has erected during his occupation for his comfort, profit, 
or convenience, he may remove, if he can do so . without injuring the 
premises, unless he has so connected it with the premises as to become 
a part thereof. 

Leases.—A lease is a contract for the possession and profits of lands 
and tenements, either for life or for a certain fixed time, or during the 

pleasure of the parties. . 

Leases must be drawn and signed in duplicate, each party retaining a 

*The party making the lease is called the lessor; he to whom it is made 
ttiG lessee. 

A lease must be for a shorter period than the duration of the lessor’s 

interest in the land. „ 

The formal parts of a lease by deed are the date, the names of the par¬ 
ties, the consideration, the description of the premises, and, lastly, express 
covenants, if any, are to be inserted. 

Leases generally have a forfeiture clause in case the tenant refuses to 
pay rent or breaks any of the covenants. The forfeiture clause permits the 
landlord to re-enter and eject the tenant. ... 

If the lease is for a period exceeding one year it should be in writing, 
and the parties should, as a general rule, have it recorded. 

Leases of agricultural lands for more than twelve years are prohibited 

in the State of New York. . iv , ,, 

If it is intended that the lessee shall insure the premises, there should 
be a covenant to that effect on his part, which should state in whose name 
the insurance is to be effected, and for what amount. Obligations to repair 
depend on the terms of the lease. The lessee must keep the premises m 
as good a state of repair as when he took possession, subject, however, to 
the ordinary wear and tear. He is not obliged to improve a dilapidated 

bU1 TheTessee is not obliged to rebuild a building which has been accident- 

allv destroyed by fire. . _ 

If a lessee enters into a general covenant to repair without making any 
exceptions, he is bound to restore any building which may be destroyed by 

temoest lightning, fire, or other accident. 

Leases usually contain a covenant by the lessee not to assign or under¬ 
let without the consent of the lessor. 

A lease may be terminated at any time before the expiration of the term, 
if the premises 7 are taken for public uses, or are wholly are 

used for purposes of ill-fame. The same result would follow should the 

the tenant purchase the property. 


m CYCLOP AUDI A OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


LEASE WITH EIGHT TO RE-ENTER IN CASE DEFAULT SHALL BE MADE IN ANT 
OF THE COVENANTS OR IN PAYMENT OF RENT. 

This indenture, made the day of one thousand eight hundred 
and between A. B., of county of State of party of the first 
part, and C. D., of county of State of party of the second part, 
Witnesseth: That the said party of the first part has letten, and by these 
presents does grant, demise, and to farm let, unto the said party of the 
second part [here insert a description of the property], with the appur¬ 
tenances, for the term of from the day of one thousand eight 
hundred and at the yearly rent or sum of dollars, to be paid in 
equal [weekly, monthly or quarterly] payments. 

And it is agreed that if any rent shall be due and unpaid for days 
after the same is due, or if default shall be made in any of the covenants 
herein contained, then it shall be lawful for the said party of the first part 
to re-enter the said premises, and to remove all persons therefrom. And 
the said party of the second part does covenant to pay to the said party of 
the first part, the said yearly rent as herein specified. And at the expira¬ 
tion of the said term, the said party of the second part will quit and sur¬ 
render the premises hereby demised, in as good state and condition as 
reasonable use and wear thereof will permit, damages by the elements 
excepted. And the said party of the first part does covenant that the said 
party of the second part, on paying the said yearly rent, and performing the 
covenants aforesaid, shall and may peaceably and quietly have, hold and 
enjoy the said demised premises, for the term aforesaid. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 
day of in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred 
and . A. B. [Seal.] 

C. D. [Seal.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of 
[Signatures of witnesses.] 

Partnership. —A partnership exists when two or more persons com¬ 
bine their property, labor and skill, or one or more of them, in the trans¬ 
action of business for their common profit. 

The partnership may be special or confined by the articles of agreement 
to a single transaction, or one or more particular lines of business. 

The partnership is general when it is confined to no stated line of busi¬ 
ness. In the absence of stipulations as to the kind of partnership, and when 
there is no evidence from the course of trade, a partnership is presumed to 
be general. 

The partners may own all the property of the firm together, or one part¬ 
ner may put in all the capital and the other furnish the skill or time in 
managing the business. Any one is a partner who participates in the profits 
and losses of the firm by agreement. 

The partners are individually liable for the debts of the firm after the 
partnership funds have been exhausted. 

A person may in most of the States become a special partner and limit 
his liability to the possible loss of the amount of capital contributed by him. 
In case of such a limited partnership, the partner must conform to the 
requirements of the statutes or he will be held as a general partner. 

There must be general partners, and the names of the special partners 
must not appear in the firm name. They have all the duties and powers of 
active partners. 

The rule of personal liability being general, such other arrangement must 
be in writing, acknowledged before some magistrate and recorded and 
advertised so that it will be actually or constructively known to all dealing 
with the firm. 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 


m 


A partnership may hold real estate for the purposes of the business or 
for the common profit, and in as far as it is partnership property, it is 
treated as personal property and is chargeable with the debts of the firm. 
Land purchased with the funds of the firm is liable tor its debts. 

Joint ownership of property, however, does not necessarily make a part¬ 
nership. It must be dealt with as a basis or means of making money to in¬ 
dicate a partnership. 

Giving employees a share in the profits of the business as compensation 
for services does not make such employees partners, and hence liable for 
the firm’s debts. Partners own the profits as they arise, not after the per¬ 
formance of stated services. 

No writing nor express agreement is necessary to constitute a partner¬ 
ship. When men join property and efforts in any enterprise for profit, the 
law lays down a code of rules. It recognizes a partnership no matter what 
the name used, even if the name of one only of the partners appears. All 
of the parties share the profits and losses equally, unless otherwise stip¬ 
ulated. Each can represent all, and can bind the company in any partner¬ 
ship business or in any transaction which seems to be within the scope of 
the partnership business. 

Any one of the partners may terminate the partnership at any time, un¬ 
less it is for a stated period of time. The death or insolvency of any one of 
the partners in itself produces the same result. When a company is wound 
up and any of the partners are dissatisfied with their allotted share of the 
assets, they may apply to the court for a receiver, who shall convert the firm 
property into money, and under the direction of the court divide the pro¬ 
ceeds according to the contribution of each partner to the capital of the firm. 
It is advisable to have the partnership agreement in writing, although a 
partnership may be formed without a written agreement. 

In any case partners have a very broad power of acting for each other. 
Either may deal with the common property as if he were the owner. He 
can bind the firm by notes signed in the firm name, and can contract debts 
in its name. 

All the partners must join in executing a sealed instrument in the name 
of the firm, and in making a general assignment for the benefit of creditors, 
with preferences. 

Dissolution may be provided for by the articles of partnership, or may 
take place by the insanity, death, or other absolute incapacity of one of the 
partners, or by his assignment of his interest to a stranger. 

After the dissolution and a notice of the same to the public at large 
through the papers, and special notices to all customers and correspondents, 
no partner can increase or continue the liabilities of the other members, 
nor is he bound for any further debts of the firm. 

Joint stock companies are partnerships whose capital is divided up into 
shares which are assignable, but in this country corporations are so gen¬ 
erally resorted to that these are rarely formed. 

Highways. -A highway is every passage, road, bridge or street, which 
a citizen has a right to use. 

Highways are created by a legislative act, by necessity, and by dedica¬ 
tion. When private property is taken by a legislative act for a highway, a 
just compensation is given, which amount is usually determined by a jury, 
or by commissioners. 

If a highway becomes impassable from any cause, the public have 


474 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


a right to go on the adjoining land, even though there is a crop on the 
same. 

The owner of land may dedicate it to the public for a highway by allow¬ 
ing it to be used as such without exercising control over it. The dedica¬ 
tion may be evidenced by deed or by act of the owner, or his silent acquies¬ 
cence in its use for twenty years. There may be a gift of the land on the 
part of the owner and acceptance on the part of the public. 

By taking or accepting land for a highway, the public acquires only the 
right of way, and the incidents necessary to enjoying and maintaining it, 
subject to the regulation of the towns. All trees within the highway, except 
only such as are requisite to make or repair the road or bridges, on the 
same land, all grass thereon, and the minerals below, are for the use of the 
owner or occupant of the land. 

The owners of the land on the opposite sides own to the center of the 
highways. If at any time the highway is abandoned the owner recovers 
the land. 

The liability to repair is determined by statute, and, as a general rule, 
devolves upon the towns. 

The commissioners of highways in the several towns have the care and 
superintendence of the highways and bridges within their respective towns. 
It is their duty to repair the bridges and roads and to regulate and alter 
such of them as a majority of the commissioners shall deem inconvenient; 
to divide their respective towns into so many road districts as they shall 
deem convenient; to assign to each of the said road districts such of the in¬ 
habitants liable to work on highways as they shall think proper, having re¬ 
gard to the proximity of residence as much as may be. 

It is their duty to require the overseers of highways from time to time, 
and as often as they shall deem necessary, to warn all persons assessed to 
work on the highways to come and work thereon; to lay out on actual sur¬ 
vey such new roads in their respective towns as they may deem necessary 
and proper, and to discontinue such old roads as shall appear to them on 
the oath of twelve freeholders of the same town to have become unneces¬ 
sary; to cause mile-boards or stones to be erected on such public roads as 
they may deem proper to repair and keep in order. 

It is the duty of overseers of highways in each town to repair and keep 
in order the highways in the several districts for which they were elected; 
to warn all persons assessed to work on the highways in their respective 
districts; to cause all noxious weeds within the highway to be cut down or 
destroyed, twice in each year; to collect all fines and commutation money; 
to cause all loose stones lying on the beaten track of every road to be re¬ 
moved; to keep up and renew the mile-stones and guide-posts; when neces¬ 
sary, to make another assessment on the residents in the town to keep the 
roads in repair. 

Every person owning or occupying land in the town in which he or she 
resides, and every male inhabitant over twenty-one veais, residing in the 
town where the assessment is made, shall be assessed to work on the roads 
in such town, and all moneyed or stock corporations, and the land of non¬ 
residents within any town, are subject to assessment for highway labor. 
Ministers of the gospel, paupers, idiots, and lunatics are exempt from high¬ 
way labor. 

Any person liable to highway labor may commute for the same in whole 
or in part, at the rate of one dollar per day, to be paid to the overseer with¬ 
in twenty-four hours after receiving the notice to appear and work. 


LAW FOR THE MASSES. 475 

It is the duty of the overseer to give twenty-four hours' notice to persons 
assessed to highway labor. 

Every person refusing or neglecting to appear and work when notified 
by the highway overseer is subject to a fine for each day, and every hour 
such person or his substitute may be delinquent. If any such person or sub¬ 
stitute shall remain idle, or not work faithfully or hinder others from work, 
such offender shall for every offence forfeit the sum of one dollar. 

Overseers shall have power to require a cart, wagon, or plow, with a 
pair of horses or oxen, and a person to manage them, from any person hav¬ 
ing the same within his district; if he furnish them, according to order, he 
will be entitled to a credit of three days for each day’s service therewith. 
If he neglect or refuse to furnish them, he is liable to a fine of three dollars 
per day for each day that he may be assessed. 

No private road can be laid out over the lands of any person without his 
consent or the decision of a jury. 

When a commissioner of highways has determined to lay out a new 
highway, or to alter or discontinue an old road, he must file such deter¬ 
mination in writing at the office of the town clerk. 

Any person aggrieved by any determination of the commissioner of 
highways, either in laying out, altering, or discontinuing any road, or in 
refusing to lay out, alter, or discontinue, any road, may, at any time within 
sixty days after the commissioner’s determination shall have been filed, 
appeal to the judge of the county, who shall appoint three disinterested 
freeholders, residents of the county, but not of the town, to hear and deter¬ 
mine the appeal. 

Trespass. —A trespass is any wrong-doing, or act of one person where¬ 
by another is injuriously treated or made to sustain damages. 

Its more primary signification is any unlawful act committed with vio¬ 
lence to the person, property, or rights of another. 

Another restricted sense is any unauthorized entry on the real estate of 
another. 

An act may be trespass though no damage be done, though damage is 
necessary to make a cause of action against the trespasser on the land of 
another person; the breaking of a blade of grass is said to be enough to 
constitute a trespass. 

An action for trespass may be brought for personal injury, such as as¬ 
sault, battery, wounding, imprisonment and the like, for injuries to the 
person of another, directly injuring the complainant in his rights as a mas¬ 
ter, parent, etc., for injuries to personal property in taking it away; strik¬ 
ing or chasing, if alive, and carrying away personal property, to the damage 
of the plaintiff. 

Trespass on real property is consequent on entering, without right, on 
another’s inclosure, though there may be none but an imaginary fence. 

Easement.—Easement is a right which the owner of one parcel of land 
has by reason of his ownership to use the land of another for a special pur¬ 
pose not inconsistent with a general property in the owner, or, in other 
words, it is the privilege without a profit which the owner of one piece of 
land has in the land of another. 

The land to which the right attaches is called the dominant estate, while 
that in or over which the right is to be exercised is called the servient estate. 

The following are a few of the many easements: 


476 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

The right of way which the owner of one piece of land has over the land 
of another; the right of receiving and discharging water over the land of an¬ 
other; the right of having support to buildings from the land of another; the 
right of the owner of one piece of land to have the natural flow of water pass 
from his land over the land of another; the right to go on the land of another 
and clear a mill stream or repair its banks; also the right to light and air. 

The right of the public to use a highway is an easement. 

An easement frequently arises from a continued use for a long period of 
time. The use in this case must be adverse, continued, and uninterrupted 
for the requisite period of time (usually twenty years), as, for example, the 
continued and uninterrupted use by the public of a road for twenty years. 

Easements are divided into two classes -affirmative and negative. 

Affirmative easements are those where the servient estate must permit 
something to be done thereon, as, for example, to pass over it or to dis¬ 
charge water upon it. 

Negative easements are those where the owner of the servient estate is 
prohibited from doing something otherwise lawful on his estate because it 
will affect the dominant estate, as for example, excavating his land and there¬ 
by removing the support of a building standing on the dominant estate. 

All easements must originate in an express grant, an implied grant, or, 
in prescription. 

These easements may be extinguished by abandonment, release, and by 
merger, as, for instance, where the owner of the one estate acquires the 
title to the other. 

Libel and Slander.—Libel and slander are injuries to one’s reputa¬ 
tion. Libel is that which is written or printed, which reflects on the 
character of another and is published without lawful justification or excuse, 
whatever the intention may have been; or in other words, it is inflamma¬ 
tory matter addressed to the eye. 

Pictures, effigies and other visible signs may be libelous. 

Slander differs from libel in that it is addressed to the ear. Criminal 
libel is a malicious defamatory matter made known to a third person by 
writing, by pictures, or by signs which are calculated to injure the living, 
to blacken the memory of the dead, and to hold them up to hatred, con¬ 
tempt and ridicule. 

Civil libel is a malicious defamatory matter made known to a third person 
by writing, by pictures, or by false signs, which are intended to injure the 
living, or any publication which has a tendency to disturb the public peace 
or the good order of society. 

It is a slander to charge a person with being guilty of a crime, or with 
having some contagious disease which renders him unfit for society; or to 
make a charge which affects a person in his trade, profession or business. 

In these three cases it is not necessary to prove that the person slandered 
has suffered special damages. In all other cases of slander by speaking 
defamatory words, special damages must be proved. 

The slander is supposed to be false until the contrary is shown. 

The slander must be published, which is done when communicated to a 
third person. 

A repetition of a slander already in circulation, renders the person 
repeating it liable to an action. 

Malice, which is essential to support an action for slander, is always 
presumed until the contrary is proved. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLA¬ 
NEOUS. 


Population of American Cities.— The following table gives the 
population of the principal cities of the United States according to the cen¬ 
sus of 1880: 


New York, N. Y.... 
Philadelphia, Pa— 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Chicago, Ill. 

Boston, Mass. 

St. Louis, Mo. 

Baltimore, Md. 

Cincinnati, 0. 

San Francisco, Cal 
New Orleans, La... 

Cleveland, 0. 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

Washington, D. C. 

Newark, N. J. 

Louisville, Ky. 

Jersey City, N. J... 

Detroit, Mich. 

Milwaukee, Wis... 
Providence, R. I... 

Albany, N. Y. 

Rochester, N. Y... 

Alleghany, Pa. 

Indianapolis, lnd.. 

Richmond, Va. 

New Haven, Conn. 

Lowell, Mass. 

Worcester, Mass... 

Troy, N. Y. 

Kansas City, Mo... 
Cambridge, Mass.. 
Syracuse, N. Y — 

Columbus, 0.. 

Paterson, N. J. 

Toledo, 0.. 

Fall River,Mass... 


1,206,500 

846,984 

566,680 

503.304 

362,535 

350,522 

332,190 

255,708 

233,956 

216,140 

160,142 

156,381 

155,137 

147,307 

136,400 

123,645 

120,728 

116,342 

115,578 

104,850 

90,903 

89,363 

78,681 

75,074 

63,803 

62,882 

59,485 

58,295 

56,747 

55,813 

52,740 

51,791 

51,665 

50,887 

50,143 

49.006 


Minneapolis, Minn.. 

Reading, Pa. 

Hartford, Conn. 

Wilmington, Del.... 

St. Paul, Minn. 

Lawrence, Mass. 

Dayton, O. 

Lynn, Mass. 

Denver, Col. 

Oakland, Cal. 

Utica, N. Y. 

Springfield, Mass... 

Portland, Me. 

Memphis, Tenn. 

Manchester, N. H.. 

St. Joseph, Mo. 

Grand Rapids, Mich 
Wheeling, W. Va.... 
Harrisburgh, Pa— 

Savannah, Ga. 

Omaha, Neb. 

Trenton, N. J. 

Peoria, Ill. 

Evansville, lnd. 

Bridgeport, Conn... 

Erie, Pa. 

Quincy, Ill. 

New Bedford, Mass. 
Terre Haute, lnd... 

Lancaster, Pa. 

Wilkesbarre, Pa.... 

Augusta, Ga. 

Des Moines, Iowa.. 
Dubuque, Iowa.... 

Auburn, N. Y. 

Holyoke, Mass. 


46,887 

43,280 

42,553 

42,499 

41,498 

39,178 

38,677 

38,284 

35.630 
34,556 
33,913 
33,840 
33,810 
33,593 

32.630 
32,484 
32,015 
31,266 
30,762 
30,681 
30,518 
29,910 
29,315 
29,280 
29,148 
27,730 
27,275 
26,875 
26,040 
25,769 
23,339 
23,023 
22,408 
22,254 
21,924 
21.851 


Area and Population of the Continents.— The area of the five 
continents of the globe, with its population according to the last census 
taken, is given in the following table: 


Europe.. 

Asia. 

Africa. 

N. and S. America. 
Australia. 


Area. 

3,830,357 square miles. 
16,415,758 
11,556,650 
16,014,058 “ 

4,388,025 “ 


Population. 

. 312,000,000 
765.000,000 
. 188,000,000 
. 87,000,000 
. 4,000,000 





























































































478 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


Population, Etc., of the States and Territories.—In the follow¬ 
ing interesting table will be found the population and area in square miles 
of all the United States and Territories, likewise the electoral vote and date 
of admission to the Union of each of the several States: 


1 

STATES. 

Popula¬ 

tion. 

Area in 
Square 
Miles. 

Electoral 

Vote. 

Alabama. 

1,262,794 

50,722 

10 

Arkansas. 

802,564 

52,198 

7 

California. 

864,686 

188,981 

8 

Colorado. 

194,649 

104,500 

3 

Connecticut*. 

622,683 

4,674 

6 

Delaware*. 

146,654 

2,120 

3 

Florida. 

267,351 

59,268 

4 

Georgia* . 

1,539,048 

58,000 

12 

Illinois. 

3,078,769 

55,410 

22 

Indiana. 

1,978,362 

33,809 

15 

Iowa. 

1,624,620 

55,045 

13 

Kansas. 

995,966 

81,313 

9 

Kentucky . 

1,648.708 

37,600 

13 

Louisiana. 

940,103 

41,346 

8 

Maine. 

648,945 

31,776 

6 

Maryland*. 

934,632 

11,184 

8 

Massachusetts*. 

1,783,012 

7,800 

14 

Michigan. 

1,636,331 

56,451 

13 

Minnesota. 

780,806 

83,531 

7 

Mississippi. 

1,131,592 

47,156 

9 

Missouri.. 

2,168,804 

65,350 

16 

Nebraska . 

452,433 

75,995 

5 

Nevada . 

62,265 

112,090 

3 

New Hampshire*. 

346,984 

9,280 

4 

New Jersey*. 

1,130,983 

8,320 

9 

New York*. 

5,083,810 

47,000 

36 

North Carolina*. 

1,400,047 

50,704 

11 

Ohio. 

3,198,239 

39,964 

23 

Oregon . 

174,767 

95,244 

3 

Pennsylvania*. 

4,282,786 

46,000 

30 

Rhode Island*. 

276,528 

1,306 

4 

South Carolina*. 

995,622 

29,385 

9 

Tennessee. 

1,542,463 

45,600 

12 

Texas. 

1,592,574 

237^504 

13 

Vermont. 

332,286 

10,212 

4 

Virginia*. 

1,512,806 

40,904 

12 

West Virginia. 

618,443 

23,000 

6 

Wisconsin. 

1,315,480 

53,924 

11 

Total of States. 

49,369,595 

2,054,666 

401 

District of Columbia. 

177,638 

60 

TERRITORIES. 




Arizona. 

40,441 

113,916 


Dakota. 

135,180 

147’490 


Idaho. 

32,611 

90,932 


Montana. 

39,157 

143’776 


New Mexico. 

118,430 

12i; 201 


Utah. 

143,906 

80,056 


Washington. 

75,120 

69,944 


Wyoming. 

20,788 

93,107 


Total United States. 

50,152,866 

2,915,048 



* One of the thirteen original States. 


Admitted to 
the Union. 


Dec. 4,1818. 
June 15,1836. 
Sept. 9, 1850. 
July 4, 1876. 
Jan. 9, 1788. 
Dec. 7, 1787. 
March 3,1845. 
Jan. 2, 1788. 
Dec. 3, 1818. 
Dec. 11, 1816. 
Dec. 28,1846. 
Jan. 29, 1861. 
June 1,1792. 
April 8, 1812. 
March 4,1820. 
April 28, 1788. 
Feb. 6, 1788. 
June 26,1837. 
Feb. 26, 1858. 
Dec. 10 , 1817. 
March 2, 1821. 
March 1,1867. 
March 21,1864 
June 21, 1788. 
Dec. 18, 1787. 
June 26, 1788. 
Nov. 21, 1789. 
Nov. 30, 1802. 
Feb. 14,1859. 
Dec. 12, 1787. 
May 29, 1790. 
May 23, 1788. 
June 1,1796. 
Dec. 29, 1845. 
March 4,1791. 
June 26, 1788. 
Dec. 31, 1863. 
March 3,1848. 










































































STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 


479 


Area, Population, Etc., of the Principal Countries of the 
World.— In the following table are given the area, population, national 
debt, and names of capitals of the principal countries of the world: 


COUNTRY. 

Sq. Miles. 

Population. 

National Deltt. 

Capital. 

Chinese Empire. 

3,924,627 

433,000,000 

Unknown 

Pekin. 

British Empire. 

7,778,347 

237,391,788 

$3,888,907,980 

London. 

Russian Empire. 

8,404,767 

86,952,347 

2,840,597,635 

St. Pet’sb’rgh. 

United States. 

3,026,504 

50,152,559 

1,942,172,295 

Washington. 

German Empire. 

208,744 

42,727,262 

3,000,000,000 

Berlin. 

Austria-Hungary. 

240,940 

37,700,000 

1,625,096,042 

Vienna. 

France. 

204,096 

36,905,738 

3,513,724,650 

Paris. 

Japan . 

156,604 

33,200,000 

145,000,000 

Tokio. 

G’t Britain and Ireland.. 

121,230 

34,160,000 

3,888,907,980 

London. 

Turkey. 

860,562 

31,669,147 

1,212,772,200 

Const’tin’ple. 

Italy. 

114,406 

27,769,475 

1,977,117,845 

Rome. 

Spain. 

105,775 

10,835,506 

2,401,612,001 

Madrid. 

Brazil. 

13,275,326 

10,108,291 

368,351,139 

R. de Janeiro. 

Mexico. 

761,640 

9,276,079 

395,000,000 

Mexico. 

Persia. 

648,000 

6,500,000 

No Debt. 

Teheran. 

Morocco. 

260,000 

600,000 

3,000,000 

Morocco. 

Siam. 

310,000 

5,700,000 

No Debt. 

Bangkok. 

Roumania. 

49,262 

5,376,000 

90,000,000 

Burcharest. 

Belgium. 

11,373 

5,336,185 

232,684,553 

Brussels. 

Egypt. 

212,600 

5,250,000 

450,000,000 

Cairo. 

Portugal. 

35,812 

4,441,037 

428,997,613 

Lisbon. 

Norway and Sweden.... 

170,980 

4,429,713 

39,241,142 

Stockholm. 

Canada. 

3,483,952 

3,602,321 

112,248,378 

Ottawa. 

Holland (Netherlands)... 

12,680 

3,579,529 

391,242,322 

Amsterdam. 

Abyssinia. 

158,000 

3,000,000 

Unknown. 

Magdalla. 

Colombia. 

432,400 

2,951,211 

15,390,304 

Bogota. 

Switzerland. 

15,991 

2,776,035 

6,225,000 

Berne. 

Peru. 

502,760 

2,669,945 

213,402,680 

Lima. 

Chili. 

130,977 

2,375,971 

60,741,469 

Santiago. 

Denmark. 

14,553 

1,912,142 

52,000,000 

Copenhagen. 

Norway. 

122,280 

1,806,900 

13,526,128 

Christiana. 

Venezuela. 

368,235 

1,784,197 

62,659,687 

Caraccas. 

Bolivia. 

500,870 

1,742,352 

17,500,000 

Chuquisaca. 

Argentine Republic. 

871,000 

1,715,681 

68,416,043 

Buenos Ayres. 

Servia. 

18,787 

1,720,270 

5,000,000 

Belgrade. 

Greece. 

19,941 

1,457,894 

98,012,000 

Athens. 

Guatemala. 

40,778 

1,190,754 

3,877,384 

Guatemala. 

Ecuador. 

218,984 

1,100,000 

17,500,000 

Quito. 

Hayti. 

29,000 

1,000,000 

548,022 

P’t au Prince. 

Liberia.-. 

25,000 

1,000,000 

Unknown. 

Monrovia. 

San Salvador. 

9,500 

600,000 

5,000,000 

San Salvador. 

Uruguay. 

70,000 

455,000 

43,615,000 

Montevideo. 

Nicaragua. 

49,000 

300,000 

9,000,000 

Nicaragua. 

Paraguay. 

57,223 

221,000 

12,098,417 

Ascuncion. 

Honduras. 

47,092 

351,700 

37,000,000 

Comeazagua. 

Costa Rica.... 

21,495 

i 

185,000 

i 

12,000,000 

San Jose. 

i 


Length of the Principal Rivers — In Europe .—The Danube, 
1,800 miles; Dnieper, 1,260; Don, 1,120; Rhine, 691; Elbe, 800; Rhone, 650; 
Volga, 2,800. 

In Asia. —Ganges, 1,970; Irrawaddy, 2,600; Indus, 2,300; Euphrates, 
1,750; Amoor, 2,800; Yang-tse-Kiang, 3,300; Hoang-Ho, 2,700; Zambesi, 800; 
Yenesi, 3,250; Obi, 2,700. 

In Africa. —Nile, 2,500; Niger, 2,600; Senegal, 1,900; Gambia, 1,700. 

In America .—Missouri to the Mississippi, 3,100; Missouri to the Gulf, 
4,350; Mississippi, 3,160; Amazon, 3,600; River De La Plata, 2,240; St. Law¬ 
rence, 2,100-; Orinoco, 1,600; Rio Grande, 1,800. 






























































480 CYCLO PJED1A OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


Presidential Vote for Sixty Years.— The following table gives 

the popular and electoral votes for Presidents of the United States, from 
1824 to 1884 inclusive, likewise the name of each candidate and of the party 
to which he belonged: 


Tear. 


1824 

U 


1828 

1832 

(l 


1836 


1840 

U 

u 

1844 

U 

u 

1848 

tt 

1852 

U 

u 

1856 

ll 

U 

1860 

U 

u 

(4 

1864 

U 

1868 

44 

1872 

44 

44 

44 

1876 

44 

44 

44 

44 

1880 

44 

44 

1884 

44 

44 

44 


Name of Candidate. 


Andrew Jackson.. 

John Q. Adams_ 

W. H. Crawford_ 

Henry Clay. 

Andrew Jackson .. 

John Q. Adams_ 

Andrew Jackson .. 

Henry Clay. 

John Ployd. 

William Wirt. 

Martin Van Buren. 

W. H. Harrison_ 

Hugh L. White .... 
Daniel Webster.... 

W. P. Mangam_ 

Martin Van Bui’en. 

W. H. Harrison_ 

J. G. Birney. 

James K. Polk. 

Henry Clay. 

J. G. Birney. 

Zachary Taylor_ 

Lewis Cass. 

Martin Van Buren. 
Franklin Pierce ... 

Winfield Scott- 

John P. Hale. 

James Buchanan.. 
John C. Fremont.. 
Millard Fillmore .. 
Abraham Lincoln . 

S. A. Douglass. 

J. C. Breckenridge 

John Bell. 

Abraham Lincoln . 
Geo. B. McClellan . 

U. S. Grant.. 

Horatio Seymour., 

U. S. Grant. 

Horace Greeley.. 
Charles O’Conor. 
James Black .... 

R. B. Hayes. 

Samuel J. Tilden 
Peter Cooper 
G. C. Smith 
Scattering 
James A. Garfield 
W. S. Hancock 
James B. Weaver 
James G. Blaine 
Grover Cleveland.. 
Benjamin F. Butler 
John P. St. John... 


Party. 


Democrat.. 
Federal .... 
Republican 


Democrat. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

National Republican. 

Whig. 

44 

Democrat. 

Whig.' 

44 

44 !!!!!! ' 

44 

Democrat. 

Whig. 

Liberal. 

Democrat. 

Whig. 

Liberal. 

Whig. 

Democrat. 

Free Soil.... 

Democrat. 

Whig. 

Free Soil—.. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

American. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 


Union. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Liberal and Democrat... 

Democrat. 

Temperance. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Greenback. 

Prohibition. 


Republican 
Democrat.. 
Greenback. 
Republican 
Democrat.. 
Greenback. 
Prohibition 

i 


Popular Elec, 
vote. vote. 


155,872 

105.321 

44/282 

46,587 

647,231 

509,097 

687,502 

530,189 


761,549 


736,656 


1,128,702 

1,275,011 

7,059 

1,337,243 

1,299,068 

62,300 

1,360,099 

1,220,544 

291,263 

1,601,474 

1,386,578 

155,825 

1,838,169 

1,341,262 

874,534 

1,866,352 

1,375,157 

845,763 

589,581 

2,216,067 

1,808,725 

3,015,071 

2,709,613 

3,597,070 

2,834,079 


99 

84 

41 

37 

178 

83 

219 

49 

11 

7 

167 

73 


Ul 

40 

234 

170 

105 

163 

127 

254 

42 

174 

114 

8 

180 

72 

39 

12 

212 

21 

214 

71 

286 


4,033,295 

4,284,265 

81,737 

9,522 

2,636 

4,454,416 

4,444,952 

308,578 

4,851,981 

4,874,986 

175,370 

150,369 


185 

184 


214 

155 

182 

219 


Railroads in the United States.— We have 120,000 miles of rail¬ 
road in operation. They are capitalized, cost and water, at $10,000,000,000. 
Their income is many times greater than that of the United States 
Government, 




































































































































STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 


481 


Presidential Statistics. —The names of all the Presidents of the 
United States, with date of birth, inauguration and death, likewise the name 
of the State in which horn, are given in the following table: 



Born. 

Inaugurated. 

Died. 

Native of 

George Washington 

Feb. 

22, 1732 

April 

30, 1789 

Dec. 

14, 1799 

Virginia. 

John Adams. 

Oct. 

30, 1735 

March 

4, 1797 

July 

4, 1826 

Mass. 

Thomas Jefferson... 

April 

2, 1743 

U 

4, 1801 

July 

4, 1826 

Virginia. 

James Madison. 

Mar. 

16, 1751 

(4 

4, 1809 

June 

28, 1836 

U 

James Monroe. 

April 

2, 1759 

44 

4, 1817 

July 

4, 1831 

44 

John Quincy Adams 

July 

11, 1767 

44 

4, 1825 

Feb. 

23, 1848 

Mass. 

Andrew Jackson... 

Mar. 

15, 1767 

44 

4, 1829 

June 

8, 1845 

S. Carolina. 

Martin Van Buren.. 

Dec. 

5, 1782 

44 

4, 1837 

Dec. 

27, 1862 

New York. 

Wm. H. Harrison.. 

Feb. 

9, 1773 

44 

4, 1841 

April 

4, 1841 

Virginia. 

♦John Tyler. 

Mar. 

20, 1790 

April 

5, 1841 

Jan. 

17, 1862 

4w 

James K. Polk. 

Nov. 

2, 1795 

March 

4, 1845 

June 

15, 1849 

N.Carolina. 

Zachary Taylor. 

Nov. 

24, 1790 

44 

4, 1849 

July 

9, 1850 

Virginia. 

♦Millard Fillmore.. 

May 

7, 1800 

July 

10, 1850 

March 

8, 1874 

New York. 

Franklin Pierce.... 

Nov. 

23, 1804 

March 

4, 1853 

October 8,1869 

NewHamp. 

James Buchanan... 

April 

23, 1791 

44 

4, 1857 

June 

1, 1868 

Pennsylva. 

Abraham Lincoln.. 

Feb. 

12, 1809 

44 

4, 1861 

April 

15, 1865 

Kentucky. 

♦Andrew Johnson.. 

Dec. 

29, 1808 

April 

15, 1865 

July 

31, 1875 

N.Carolina. 

Ulysses S. Grant_ 

April 

27, 1822 

March 

4, 1869 

July 

23, 1885 

Ohio. 

Rutherf’d B. Haves. 

Oct. 

4, 1822 

44 

5, 1877 



44 

James A. Garfield.. 

Nov. 

19, 1831 

44 

4, 1881 

Sept. 

19, 1881 

44 

♦Chester A. Arthur. 

Oct. 

5, 1830 

Sept. 

19, 1881 



Vermont. 

Grover Cleveland... 

Mar. 

18, 1837 

March 

4, 1885 



N. Jersey. 


* Elected Vice-Presidents, and succeeded to the Presidency upon the death 
of the President. 


Area and Depth of Inland Seas.— In the following table are given 
the area and depth of the principal lakes and inland seas of the world: 


Name. 

Caspian Sea.... 

Sea of Aral. 

Dead Sea. 

Lake Baikal.... 
Lake Superior. 
Lake Michigan. 
Lake Huron.... 

Lake Erie. 

Lake Ontario... 
Lake Nicaragua 
Lake Titacana.. 

Salt Lake. 

Lake Tchad.... 
Lake Ladoga... 


Size. 

176,000 square miles 
30,000 

303 “ 

12,000 

32,000 “ 

22,400 “ 

21,000 “ 

10,815 

6,300 “ 

6,000 “ 

3,012 

1,875 

14,000 “ 

12,000 “ 


Depth. 


250 : 

feet. 

100 

44 

200 

44 

750 

44 

1,000 

44 

1,000 

44 

1,000 

44 

204 

44 

336 

44 

300 

44 

800 

44 

1,400 

44 

350 

44 

1,200 

44 


Area of Oceans.— The area of the five oceans of the globe is as fol¬ 


lows: 

Pacific. 71,000,000 square miles. 

Atlantic. 30 , 000,000 

Indian. 28,000,000 

Antarctic. 8,500, ooo 

Arctic . 4,500,000 


Census of the United States _The following table exhibits th* 


population of the United States according to each census taken: 


1st. 1790. 
2d. 1800, 

3d. 1810. 
4th. 1820. 
5th. 1830. 


3,929,328 

5,305,925 

7,239,814 

9,638,131 

12,866,026 


6th. 1840. 
7th. 1850. 
8th. 1860, 
9th. 1870. 
10th. 1880. 


17,069,453 

23,191,876 

31,443,32’* 

38,558,371 

50,152,860 






































































482 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 


Height of Mountains _The height in feet and miles of the highest 

mountains on the globe is thus given: 


St. Elias, British America.. 


Vesuvius, 


Feet. 

Miles. 

28,178 

5X 

25,380 

5 

.21,780 

434 

,21,444 

434 

,20,600 

3% 


3 34 

19,150 

3 34 

18,000 

334 

17,735 

33* 

16,000 

3 

15,900 

3 

15,776 

3 

15,700 

3 

15,550 

3 

15,200 

2% 

15,000 

2X 

14,796 

2% 

14,450 

2% 

14.320 

2% 

13,800 

234 

13,570 

2% 

13,400 

2>4 

,13,000 

234 

12,700 

234 

.12,236 

234 

,12,000 

234 

.11,570 

234 

,11,542 

234 

.11,000 

234 

,10,950 

2 

.10,158 

134 

,10,050 

134 

. 9,754 

134 

. 9,080 

134 

. 9,050 

134 

. 8,000 

134 

. 7,677 

134 

. 6,467 

134 

. 6,234 

134 

. 5,467 

1 

. 5,000 

1 

. 4,400 

X 

. 4,280 

X 

. 4,260 

X 

. 4,030 

X 

. 3,950 

X 

. 3,932 

X 

. 3,850 

X 

. 3,500 

X 

. 3,280 
. 2,000 
. 1,470 

X 


The Area and Population of China —The area of China proper 
measures 1,348,870 square miles, being about half the size of Europe, seven 
times that of France, and fifteen times that of Great Britain. Each of the 
eighteen provinces, therefore, is on an average almost as large as England. 
Though not so densely peopled as at one time supposed—mistaken esti¬ 
mates having been circulated by travelers who had not penetrated 
the country away from seaboard or river—it is yet thickly populated. 
The population of China probably exceeds 200,000,000 of “ Celestials.” In¬ 
teresting information regarding China and the Chinese will be found in the 
department of “ Travels, Manners and Customs, Etc.” 






















































STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS . 483 

A Useful Table —The following table shows the number of days from 
a given date in one month to the same date in any other month: 


o 

H 

FROM 

January. 

February. 

A 

o 

u 

c3 

a 

April. 

May. 

June. 

3 

hs 

August. 

September. 

October. 

November. 

December. 

January. 

365 

31 

59 

90 

120 

151 

181 

212 

243 

273 

i 

304 

334 

February. 

334 

365 

28 

59 

89 

120 

150 

181 

212 

242 

_i 

273 

303 

March. 

306 

337 

365 

31 

61 

92 

122 

153 

184 

214 

_i 

245 

275 

April. 

275 

306 

334 

365 

30 

61 

91 

122 

153 

183 

214 

244 

May. 

245 

276 

304 

335 

365 

31 

61 

92 

123 

153 

185 

214 

June. 

214 

245 

273 

304 

334 

365 

30 

61 

92 

122 

153 

183 

July. 

184 

215 

243 

274 

304 

335 

365 

31 

62 

92 

123 

i 

153 

August. 

153 

184 

212 

243 

273 

304 

334 

365 

31 

61 

92 

122 

September. 

122 

153 

181 

212 

242 

273 

303 

334 

365 

30 

61 

91 

October. 

92 

123 

151 

182 

212 

243 

273 

304 

335 

365 

31 

61 

November. 

61 

92 

120 

151 

181 

212 

242 

273 

304 

334 

| 365 

30 

December. 

31 

62 

90 

121 

151 

182 

212 

243 

274 

304 

335 

1 

365 


Example. —To find the number of days from June 16th to October 16th: 
In the left hand column find June. Run your eye along to the right 
until it reaches the column headed October at the top. At the intersection 
of the two columns you will find the answer, 122 days. 


Locomotion of Animals and Velocity of Bodies.--The follow¬ 
ing table is interesting as showing the average power of locomotion of 
animals as compared with the velocity of various bodies: 


A man walks. 

A horse trots. 

A horse runs. 

Steamboat runs. 

Sailing vessel runs. 

Slow rivers flow. 

Rapid rivers flow. 

A moderate wind blows 

A storm moves. 

A hurricane moves. 

A rifle ball moves. 

Sound moves.. 

Light moves. 

Electricity moves. 


Per hour. 

3 miles, 
7 “ 

20 “ 

18 “ 

10 “ 

3 “ 

7 “ 

N U 

36 “ 

80 “ 
1,000 “ 
743 " 


Per second. 


or 

or 

or 

or 

or 

or 

or 

or 

or 

or 


4 feet. 
10 “ 
29 “ 
26 l * 
14 “ 

4 “ 
10 “ 
10 “ 
62 “ 
117 “ 


or 1,466 
or 1,142 
192.000 miles per second. 
.288.000 “ “ “ 


The astounding velocity of electricity and light in comparison with that 
of other bodies, may well excite surprise and wonder. 



























































































































































m CYCLOP uEDIA OF USEFUL KNOW LEDGE 


Height of Monuments, Towers and Structures. —The height, 


in feet, of the most lofty monuments 
given in the following table: 

Feet. 

Washington Monument, Washing¬ 


ton, D. C. 555 

Pyramid of Cheops, Egypt. 543 

Antwerp Cathedral, Belgium.476 

Strasburg Cathedral, France.474 

Tower of Utrecht, Holland. 464 

St. Stephen’s Steeple, Vienna.460 

Pyramid of Cephenes, Egypt.456 

St. Martin’s Church, Bavaria.456 

St. Peter’s, Rome.448 

Salisbury Spire, England. 410 

St. Paul’s, London, England.404 

St. Peter's, at Hambro’.395 

Cathedral at Florence, Italy.384 

Cremona Cathedral, Italy. 372 

Seville Cathedral, Spain.360 

Pyramid of Sakkarah, Egypt.356 


and other structures in the world is 


Feet. 

Notre Dame Cathedral, Munich.348 

Dome of the Invalides, Paris.347 

Madgeburg Cathedral. 337 

St. Mark’s Church, Venice.328 

Assinelli Tower, Bologna. 314 

Bartholdi Statue, New York.305 

Trinity Church, New York.283 

Brooklyn Bridge Towers. 281 

Column at Delhi, India. 262 

Porcelain Tower, China. 242 

Canterbury, Tower, England.235 

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. 232 

Bunker Hill Monument. 220 

Leaning Tower, Pisa, Italy.202 

Monument, London.202 

Monument, Place Vendome, Paris. 153 
Trajan’s Pillar, Rome. 151 


Distances from Washington to Various Points _The air line 

distances from the city of Washington, D. C., to the various points indicated 
are given in the following table: 


Alexandria, Egypt. 

Amsterdam, Holland. 

Athens, Greece. 

Auckland, New Zealand.. 

Algiers, Algeria. 

Berlin, Prussia. 

Berne, Switzerland. 

Brussels, Belgium. 

Batavia, Java. 

Bombay, Hindostan. 

Buenos Ayres, A. C. 

Bremen, Prussia. 

Constantinople, Turkey... 
Copenhagen, Denmark.... 

Calcutta, Hindostan. 

Canton China. 

Cairo, Egypt. 

Cape Town, Cape Colony. 

Cape of Good Hope. 

Caraccas, Venezuela. 

Charlotte Town, P. E. I... 

Dublin, Ireland. 

Delhi, Hindostan. 

Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Frederickton, N. B. 

Gibraltar, Spain. 

Glasgow, Scotland. 

Halifax, N. S. 

Hamburg, Germany—... 

Havana, Cuba. 

Honolulu, S. I. 

Jerusalem, Palestine- 

Jamestown, St. Helena... 

Lima, Peru. 

Lisbon, Portugal. 

Liverpool, England. 

London, England. 

City of Mexico, Mexico.. 

Montevideo, Uruguay- 

Montreal, Canada. 

Madrid, Spain. 

Moscow, Russia. 


Miles. 

. 5,275 
. 3,555 
. 5,005 
. 8,290 
. 3,425 
. 3,847 
3,730 
. 3,515 
.11,118 
. 8,548 
. 5,013 
. 3,500 
. 4,880 
. 3,895 
. 9.348 
. 9,000 
. 5.848 
. 6,684 
. 7,380 
. 1,865 
. 820 
. 3,076 
. 8,368 
. 3,275 
. 670 

. 3,150 
. 3,215 
. 780 

. 3,570 
. 1,139 
. 4.513 
. 5’495 
. 7,150 
. 3,515 
. 3,190 
. 3,228 
. 3,315 
. 1,867 
. 5,003 
. 471 

. 3,485 
. 4,466 


Manilla, Phil. Islands... 

Mecca, Arabia. 

Muscat, Arabia. 

Monrovia, Liberia. 

Morocco, Morocco. 

Mourzouk, Fezzan. 

Mozambique, Moz. 

Ottawa, Canada. 

Panama, New Gran. 

Parana, A. C. 

Port au Prince, Hayti... 

Paris, France. 

Pekin, China. 

Quebec, Canada. 

Quito, Ecuador. 

Rio Janeiro, Brazil. 

Rome, Italy. 

St. Petersburg, Russia.. 

Stockholm, Sweden. 

Shanghai, China. 

Singapore, Malay. 

St. John’s, N. F. 

San Domingo, S. D. 

San Juan, Nicaragua... 

San Salvador, A. C. 

Santiago, Chili. 

Spanish Town Jamaica. 

Sydney, C. B. I. 

Sydney, Australia.. 

St. Paul de Loanda. 

Timbuctoo, Soudan_ 

Tripoli, Tripoli. 

Tunis, Tunis. 

Toronto, Canada. 

Venice, Italy... 

Vienna, Austria. 

Valparaiso, Chili. 

Vera Cruz, Mexico. 

Warsaw, Poland. 

Yeddo, Japan. 

Zanzibar, Zanzibar 


Miles. 

. 9,360 
. 6,598 
. 7,600 
. 3,645 
. 3,305 
. 5,525 
. 7,348 
. 462 

. 1,825 
. 4,733 
. 1,425 
. 3,485 
. 8,783 
. 601 
. 2,531 
. 4,280 
. 4,365 
. 4,296 
. 4,055 
. 8,600 
.11,300 
. 1,340 
. 4,300 
. 1,740 
. 1,650 
. 4,970 
. 1,446 
. 975 

. 8,963 
. 5,578 
. 3,395 
. 4,425 
. 4,240 
. 343 

. 3,835 
. 4,115 
. 4 934 
. 1,680 
. 4,010 
.. 7,630 
.. 7,078 
























































































































m 


statistical and miscellaneous. 

Distances from New York to Important Cities —The follow¬ 
ing are the distances from New York City, as the crow fliss, to the points 
indicated: 


Albany, N. Y. 

Atlanta, Ga. 

Baltimore, Md. 

Boston, Mass. 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

Burlington, Vt. 

Charleston, S. C— 

Chicago, Ill. 

Cincinnati, Ohio... 
Cleveland, Ohio.... 
Denver City, Col... 

Detroit, Mich. 

Galveston, Tex. 

Harrisburg, Pa. 

Hartford, Conn. 

Indianapolis, Ind.. 
Little Rock, Ark... 
Long Branch, N. J. 

Louisville, Ky. 

Memphis, Tenn.... 
Milwaukee, Wis... 

Mobile, Ala. 

Montgomery, Ala. 
Nashville, Tenn... 

Newark, N. J. 

Newburg, N. Y- 

New Haven, Conn 
New Orleans, La.. 


Miles. 

. 146 

. 1,000 
185 
. 236 

. 469 

. 301 

. 764 

. 898 

. 744 

. 588 

. 1,980 
. 679 

. 1,800 
. 182 
. 133 

. 838 

. 1,400 
36 

. 845 

. 1,200 
. 1,100 
.. 1,352 
,. 1,220 
.. 1,019 
9 

53 

76 

1,597 


Newport, R. I. 

Omaha, Neb. 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Pittsburg, Pa,.. 

Portland, Me. 

Providence, R. I. 

Raleigh, N. C. 

Richmond, Va.. 

Rochester, N. Y. 

Salt Lake City, Utah.... 

San Francisco, Cal- 

Savannah, Ga. 

Saratoga Springs, N. Y.. 

St. Louis, Mo. 

St. Paul, Minn. 

Washington, D. C- 

Calcutta, India. 

Dublin, Ireland. 

Edinburgh, Scotland.... 

Frankfort, Germany. 

Havana, Cuba. 

London. England. 

Madrid, Spain. 

Montreal, Canada. 

Paris, France. 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil... 

Rome, Italy. 

St. Petersburgh, Russia 


Miles. 

. 160 
. 1,430 
87 

. 431 

. 344 

. 183 

. 538 

. 353 

. 401 

. 2,430 
. 3,306 
. 854 

. 183 

. 1,090 
. 1,450 
. 225 

. 8,300 
. 3,130 
. 3,586 
. 3,530 
. 1,930 
. 3,206 
. 3,140 
. 401 

,. 3,557 
.. 4,550 
.. 4,396 
.. 4,860 


Chronological History of Discovery and Progress.—1180— Glass 
first used for windows. 

1200— Mariner’s Compass first used. 

1234 —Coal first dug for fuel. 

1240 —Spectacles invented. 

1302 —Paper first made from linen rags. 

1320— Gunpowder invented. 

1436 —Printing invented 

1457 —Almanacs first printed by Purback, in Vienna. Newspaper, first in 
the world issued, called The Gazette, printed at Nuremburg. 

1462_ Metal Type in matrices first made by Peter Schceffer, at Nuremburg. 

Bible first printed, at Mentz. 

1471 —Printing Press first set up, by Caxton. 

1473 _Musical Notes first used, but not printed until 1502. 

1476— Watches first made at Nuremberg. 

1516— Post-office first established for general public use, between Vienna and 
JBrusscls 

1517 _ The True System of the Universe , discovered by Copernicus. Luther 

began to preach in the same year. 

1521 —Luther summoned before the Diet of Worms. 

1526_ Xavier, the first great missionary of modern Christianity, planted the 

cross in India. 

1527—Wood Engraving invented by Albert Durer. 

1530 —Spinning Wheel set in motion by Jergens. 

1532 —Henmj VIII, of England, finally and forever broke with the Pope, 






























































486 CYCLOFJZDlA OF USEFUL K NO WEED G E. 


1535 —Ignatius Loyola founded the Order of the Jesuits. First English Bible. 
(Coverdale’s). 

1545 —Modern Needles first came into use. 

1552— Books of Geography and Astronomy destroyed in England, as being 
infected with magic. 

1555— Wheeled Carriages first used in France. 

1559— Steel Knives first used in England, and Coaches introduced about the 
same time. 

1562 —Religious Liberty granted to the Huguenots in France, and was fol¬ 
lowed by the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 1572. 

1568 — Clocks first made in England. 

1590— Telescopes were invented, and the first was probably used in England 
in 1608. Spencer , Shakespeare, Bacon, Kepter, Tycho Brahe, were 
contemporaries in this year. 

1607— First Settlement in America, Jamestown, Virginia. 

1615 — Daily Newspaper first issued, Frankfort Gazette. Still published. 

1616— Potatoes landed in Ireland by Sir Walter Raleigh, said to have been 
brought by him, with tobacco, from Virginia. 

1622— The First Newspaper was published in England; the first attempt at 
Parliamentary reporting in 1641; the first advertisement appeared in 
1648; and the first paper devoted exclusively to advertisements and 
shipping in 1657. 

1629— Printing Press first introduced into the United States, at Cambridge, 
Mass. 

1650— First Air Pumps manufactured. 

1670— Organs first introduced into churches by Pope Vitalianus. 

1690 —First American Newspaper' published at Boston, September 25th, a 
monthly sheet, headed “ Publick Occurrences, Foreign and Dom’es- 
tick.” Soon suppressed. 

1702— First English Daily Newspaper published in London, and was called 
Daily Courant. Gas first used for illuminating. 

1704 —Newspaper first permanently printed in America, at Boston, called 
Boston News-Letter. 

mi—Piano-forte invented by Father Wood, an English monk at Rome. 

1731 —First French Newspaper published at Paris, called Gazette de France 
First Public Library established, at Philadelphia, July 31st. 

1736— Union Fire Company, Philadelphia, organized December 7th, the first 
volunteer fire company in America, and probably in the world. 

1751 Pennsylvania Hospital, established February 7th; the first in America. 

1752— Fire Insurance Company first formed in America, “ The Philadelphia 
Contributionship.” Lightning Rods first used. Put up by Benjamin 
Franklin at his house in Philadelphia. Theatre first opened in Amer¬ 
ica, at Williamsburg, Va. 

1753— Steam Engine first introduced into use in America, and was brought 
from England. 

1777 —American Flag adopted by Congress. 

1780— Sunday Schools first established by Robert Raikes, in Gloucester 
England. 

1781— Bank of North America incorporated at Philadelphia, May 26th. 
First banking institution in America. Capital $400,000. 

1783— Balloon ascension first made, June 5th, near Lyons, France. 

1784 Daily Paper first published in the United States, The Pennsylvania 
Packet , or General Advertiser, 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS . 487 

1786— Vessel navigated first by steam, Philadelphia, July 20th, by John 
Fitch. 

1787 — Copper Cent first coined at New Haven, Conn. 

1803.— Steel Pens first made. 

1807— First Steamboat plied the Hudson, the Clermont , by Robert Fulton. 

1811— Lead Pencils first made in the United States, by William Munroe, at 
Concord, Mass. 

1813— Coal first mined in Philadelphia, sold at $21 per ton. There are $50,- 
000,000 worth now produced annually. Electric Light first made prac¬ 
tical by Sir Humphrey Davy. 

1815— First religious newspaper, the Boston Record, established. 

1816— Pins first manufactured in the United States. 

1818— Steamer first crossed the Atlantic, the Savannah, from New York to 
Liverpool, in twenty-six days. 

1824— Steam Ferny Boats first used between New York and Brooklyn. 

1825— Gas first used in New York for illuminating purposes. Homeopathy 
introduced into the United States. Passenger Railroad first opened, 
September 27th, in England. 

1826— Kei'osene first used for illuminating purposes. Railroad, first in 
United States, extended from granite quarries at Quincy, Mass., to 
Neponset River, three miles. Now nearly 100,000 miles in the United 
States. 

1828— Passenget' Railroad, first in America opened, the Baltimore & Ohio. 

1829— Lucifer Matches first made; came into general use about 1834. 

1830— Steam Railroad, first in New York State, was from Albany to Schenec¬ 
tady, 23 miles. Iron Steamship first built. Omnibuses first intro¬ 
duced for travel in New York City. 

1832— Telegraph invented by Morse. 

1838 — Telegraph Wire of any practical importance first in England, was laid 
from Paddington to West Drayton; the first in Scotland in 1841; and 
in Ireland 1854. Passenger Steamships began regular voyages across 
the Atlantic; the Sirus, from London to New York, in 17 days, and 
the Great Westeim, from Bristol to New York, in 15 days. 

1839— Envelopes first used for letters, etc. 

1840— Postage-Stamps first used in England. 

1844 —Telegraph Wire first laid in America was between Washington and 
Baltimore. Anesthesia discovered. 

1846— ; Seeing-Machine patented, by Elias Howe. 

1847— Postage-Stamps first used in the United States. 

1848— Gold first discovered in California. 

1853 —Crystal Palace, N. Y., opened. Burned Oct. 5, 1858.^ 

1858 — Cable Dispatches first sent across Ocean. 

1863— Emancipation proclamation. 

1866—Atlantic Cable successfully laid. 

1871— Great Fire in Chicago. 

1877— Telephone first put into public use. Phonograph, Edison’s, first 
brought to public attention. 

1878— Elevated Railroad commenced running in New York City, August 
26th. 

1883_ Brooklyn Bridge opened May 24th. Cars began to run Septem¬ 

ber 2d. 

1884.—Discovery of Cocoaine, the most remarkable of anaesthetics. 

1885_ The Bartholdi Statue erected upon Bedloe’s Island, New York, 


488 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEEVL KNOWLE DGE. 


Popular Sobriquets of American States, Cities, Etc.— Acadia, 
the original, and now the poetic, name of Nova Scotia. 

Alliens of America, a name sometimes given to Boston, Mass. 

Badger State, a name popularly given to the State of Wisconsin. 

Bay Stale, a popular name of Massachusetts, which was originally called 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. 

Bayou State , a name sometimes given to the State of Mississippi, which 
abounds in bayous, or creeks. 

Bear State, a name by which the State of Arkansas is sometimes desig¬ 
nated, on account of the number of bears that infest its forests. 

Blue Hen, The , a cant or popular name for the State of Delaware. 

Buckeye Slate, the State of Ohio, popularly so called from the Buckeye 
tree, which abounds there. 

City of Brothei'ly Love; Philadelphia is sometimes so called, this being the 
literal signification of the name. 

City of Churches, a name popularly given to the City of Brooklyn, New 
York, from the unusually large number of churches which it con¬ 
tains. 

City of Elms, a familiar denomination of New Haven, Conn., many of the 
streets of which are thickly shaded with lofty elms. 

City of Magnificent Distances, a popular designation given to the city of 
Washington, the capital of the Uuited States, which is laid out on a very 
large scale. 

City of Notions, a popular name for Boston. 

City of Rocks, a descriptive name popularly given to the city of Nashville, 
Tenn. 

City of Spindles, a name popularly given to the city of Lowell, Mass., the 
largest cotton-manufacturing town in the United States. 

City of the Straits, a name popularly given to Detroit, Mich., which is situ¬ 
ated on the west bank of the river or strait connecting Lake St. Clair 
with Lake Erie. Detroit is a French word, meaning “ strait.” 

Columbia, a name often given to America, from a feeling of poetic justice 
to its discoverer. The application of the term is usually restricted to 
the United States. 

Corn-Grackei', The, a popular nickname or designation for the State of 
Kentucky. The inhabitants of the State are often called Corn-crackers. 

Ci'adle of Liberty, a popular name given to Faneuil Hall, a large public 
edifice in Boston, Mass. 

Crede State, a name sometimes given to the State of Louisiana, in which the 
descendants of the original French and Spanish settlers constitute a 
large proportion of the population. 

Crescent City, a popular name for the city of New Orleans. 

Dark and Bloody Ground, The , an expression often used in allusion to Ken¬ 
tucky, of which name it is said to be the translation. 

Diamond State, a name sometimes given to the State of Delaware, from its 
small size and great worth, or supposed importance. 

Empire City, the city of New York, the chief city of America. 

Empire Slate, a popular name of the State of New York, the most populous 
and the wealthiest State in the Union. 

Excelsior State, the State of New York, sometimes so called from the motto, 
“Excelsior,” upon its coat of arms. 

FaU City; Louisville, Ky., popularly so called from the falls which, at this 
place, impede the navigation of the Ohio River. 


STATISTICAL A ND MIS CELL AKEO US. 


489 


Fathei • of Waters, a popular name given to the river Mississippi on account 
of its great length (3,160 miles), and the very large number of its tribu¬ 
taries, of which the lied, the Arkansas, the Ohio, the Missouri, the 
Illinois, the Des Moines, the Wisconsin, and the St. Peter’s or Minne¬ 
sota, are the most important. The literal signification of the name, 
which is of Indian origin, is said to be “ great river.” 

Flour City , a popular designation of the city of Rochester, N. Y., a place re¬ 
markable for its extensive manufactories of flour. 

Flower City; Springfield, Ill., the capital of the State, which is distinguished 
for the beauty of its surroundings. 

Foj'esl City; Cleveland, O., so called from the many ornamental trees with 
which the streets are bordered. Also, a name given to Portland, Me., 
a city distinguished for its many elms and other beautiful shade trees. 

Fi'eestone Slate , the State of Connecticut, sometimes so called from the 
quarries of freestone which it contains. 

Garden City , a popular name for Chicago, a city which is remarkable for the 
number and beauty of its private gardens. 

Garden of the West , a name usually given to Kansas, but sometimes ap¬ 
plied to Illinois and others of the Western States, which are all noted 
for their productiveness. 

Garden of the World, a name frequently given to the vast country, com¬ 
prising more than 1,200,000 square miles, which is drained by the Mis¬ 
sissippi and its tributaries —a region of almost unexampled fertility. 

Gate City; Keokuk, la., popularly so called. It is situated at the foot of 
the lower rapids of the Mississippi (which extend twelve miles, with a 
fall of twenty-four feet), and is the natural head of navigation. A por¬ 
tion of the city is built on a bluff one hundred and fifty feet high. 

Gibraltar of Amei'ica, a name often given to the city of Quebec, which, 
from its position and natural and artificial means of defense, is the most 
strongly fortified city in America. 

Gotham, go'tham, a popular name for the city of New York, first given to it 
in “Salmagundi” (a humorous work by Washington Irving and Wil¬ 
liam Irving and James K. Paulding), because the inhabitants were 
such wiseacres. 

Granite State, a popular name for the State of New Hampshire, the moun¬ 
tainous portions of which are largely composed of granite. 

Green- Mountain State, a popular name of Vermont, the Green Mountains 
being the principal mountain range in the State. 

Hawkeye State, the State of Iowa, said to be so named after an Indian chief, 
who was once a terror to voyageurs to its borders. 

Hoosier State, hoo'zhur, the State of Indiana, the inhabitants of which are 
often called Hoosiers. This word is a corruption of husher, formerly a 
common term for a bully throughout the West. 

Hub of the Universe, a burlesque and popular designation of Boston, Mass., 
originating with the American humorist, Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Iron City, a name popularly given to Pittsburgh, Pa., a city distinguished 
for its numerous ana immense iron manufactures. 

Key of the Gulf, a name often given to the island of Cuba, from its position 
at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Keystone State, the State of Pennsylvania, so called from its having been the 
central State of the Union at the tithe of the formation of the Constitu¬ 
tion. If the names of the thirteen original States are arranged in the 
form of an arch, Pennsylvania will occupy the place of the keystone. 


490 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


King of Waters , a name given to the River Amazon, in South America. 

Lake Stale, a name popularly given to the State of Michigan, which borders 
upon the four lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. 

Land of Steady Habits , a name by which the State of Connecticut is some¬ 
times designated, in allusion to the moral character of its inhabitants. 

Little Rhody, a popular designation of Rhode Island, the smallest of the 
United States. 

Lone Star State, the State of Texas, so called from the device on its coat of 
arms. 

Lumber Slate, a popular designation for the State of Maine, the inhabitants 
of which are largely engaged in cutting and rafting lumber, or of con¬ 
verting it into boards, shingles, scantling, and the like. 

Mason and Dixon’s Line, a name given to the southern boundary line of the 
free State of Pennsylvania, which separated it from the slave States of 
Maryland and Yirginia. It was run—except about twenty-two miles 
—by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two English mathematicians 
and surveyors, between November 15, 1763, and December 26, .1767. 
During the excited debate in Congress, in 1820, on the question of ex¬ 
cluding slavery from Missouri, the eccentric John Randolph, of Roanoke, 
made great use of this phrase, which was caught up and re-echoed by 
every newspaper in the land, and thus gained the celebrity which it 
still maintains. 

Modern Athens, a name often given to Boston, Mass., a city remarkable for the 
high intellectual character of its citizens and for its many excellent 
literary, scientific, and educational institutions and publications. 

Monumental City, the city of Baltimore, so called from the monuments which 
it contains. 

Mother of Presidents, a name frequently given to the State of Yirginia, 
which has furnished six Presidents to the Union. 

Mother of Stales, a name sometimes given to the State of Yirginia, the first 
settled of the thirteen States which united in the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence. 

Mound City, a name popularly given to St. Louis on account of the numer¬ 
ous artificial mounds that occupied the site on which the city is built. 

Nutmeg State, a popular name for the State of Connecticut, the inhabitants 
of which have such a reputation for shrewdness that they have jocosely 
been accused of palming off wooden nutmegs on unsuspecting pur¬ 
chasers, instead of the genuine article. 

Old Colony, a name popularly given to that portion of Massachusetts in¬ 
cluded within the original limits of the Plymouth colony, which was 
formed at an earlier date than the colony of Massachusetts Bay. In 
1692, the two colonies were united in one province, bearing the name of 
the latter, and, at the formation of the Federal Union, became the 
State of Massachusetts. 

Old Dominion, a popular name for the State of Yirginia. The origin of 
this term has been differently accounted for by different writers. 

Old North State, a popular designation of the State of North Carolina. 

Palmetto State, the State of South Carolina, so called from the arms of the 
State, which contain a palmetto. 

Panhandle, The, a fanciful and cant name given to the most northerly por¬ 
tion of the State of West Virginia—a long, narrow projection between 
the Ohio River and the western boundary of Pennsylvania. 

Peninsula State , the State of Florida, so called from its shape. 


491 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 

Pine Tree State, a popular name of the State of Maine, the central and 
northern portions of which are covered with extensive pine forests. 
Prairie State, a name given to Illinois, in allusion to the wide-spread and 
beautiful prairies, which form a striking feature of the scenery of the 
State. 

Pui'itan City, a name sometimes given to the city of Boston, Mass., in allu¬ 
sion to the character of its founders and early inhabitants. 

Quaker City, a popular name of Philadelphia, which was planned and set¬ 
tled by William Penn, accompanied by a colony of English Friends. 
Queen City, a popular name of Cincinnati, so called when it was the undis¬ 
puted commercial metropolis of the West. 

Queen City of the Lakes, a name sometimes given to the city of Buffalo, 
N. Y., from its position and importance. 

Queen of the Antilles, an appellation sometimes given to Cuba, which, from 
its great size, its rich natural productions, its fine harbors, its varied 
and beautiful scenery, and its commanding geographical position, ranks 
first among all the islands of the West Indian group. 

Queen of the West, a name sometimes given to Cincinnati. 
liailroad City: Indianapolis, the capital of the State of Indiana, is some¬ 
times called by this name, as being the terminus of various railroads. 
Salt River, a cant name for an imaginary river up which defeated political 
parties are supposed to Ire sent to oblivion. 

Smoky City, a name sometimes given to Pittsburgh, an important manu¬ 
facturing city of Pennsylvania. 

Sucker State, a cant name given to the State of Illinois, the inhabitants of 
which are very generally called suckers throughout the West. 
Turpentine State, a popular name for the State of North Carolina, which pro¬ 
duces and exports immense quantities of turpentine. 

Wolverine State, the State of Michigan, popularly so called from its abound¬ 
ing with wolverines. 

Incorrect Language.—To expose the mistakes of contented igno¬ 
rance is hopeless. There is no cure for these but a general improvement 
in education. There are, however, errors which well-instructed persons 
sometimes fall into, from mere habit or thoughtlessness. Such errors, like 
the “ fears of the brave and the follies of the wise,” have only to be brought 
home to the consciousness of those who commit them to be discarded at 

A very common mistake, even with good writers and speakers, is the 
substitution of had for would, before the adverbs rather, sooner, better, lief, 
and some others. “I had rather stay than go,” instead of “I would 
rather.” “ I had as lief take one as the other,” instead of “ I would as 
lief.” The origin of the error is evident enough. The two words had and 
would have the same contracted form when combined with a pronoun. “Id 
rather ” may be a contraction of either “ I would rather,” or “ I had rather.” 
This contracted form is that which we almost always use in common speech. 
Even when we are inclined to lengthen it, we rarely give the full pronuncia¬ 
tion. We say “ Pud rather,” leaving the verb doubtful to the listener’s ear, 
and perhaps to ourselves. When driven to write it, we feel naturally in¬ 
clined to take the shortest word, without much regard to the strict gram¬ 
matical meaning of the phrase. That the expressions “ I had rather ” and 
k i had as lief” are incorrect, will be made evident by simply converting 
rather into its synonym more willingly , and lief into the corresponding gladly* 


m CYCLOPEDIA OP PSEPPL knowledge. 


Yet it must be admitted that these incorrect forms are warranted by such 
high authorities, from Shakespeare to some of the best writers of our own 
day, that they are entitled to be regarded, if not as established idioms, at 
least as tolerated solecisms. 

The confusion of lay with lie , and of set with sit, is among the most com¬ 
mon errors of speech, though well-educated persons are usually able to 
avoid it in writing. Every one who is familiar with the idiom of our lan¬ 
guage knows, or ought to know, that lay and set are what are called transi¬ 
tive verbs, and that lie and sit are intransitive. In other words, the two 
former can take a noun after them in the objective case, and the two latter 
cannot. We say, “ Lay the book down; ” “ Set the post up.” To say, “ Lie 
the book,” or “ Sit the post,” would be ridiculous. The error usually com¬ 
mitted is in the opposite direction—the transitive verbs being used in an 
intransitive sense. Many persons, not deficient in education would say, 
“ Some of the children are laying on the grass, and the others are setting in 
the parlor.” That the error prevails in the very highest circles of society 
and of scholarship cannot be doubted when we find it allowed to mar the 
effect of one of the finest verses in Byron’s well-known apostrophe to the 
ocean. 

“ Man’s steps are not upon thy paths; thy fields 
Are not a spoil for him; thou dost arise 
And shake him from thee; the vile strength he wields 
For earth’s destruction thou dost all despise, 

Spurning him from thy bosom to the skies, 

And send’st him, shivering in thy playful spray, 

And howling to his gods, where haply lies 
His petty hope in some near port or bay, 

And dashed him again to earth—there let him lay.” 

Next let us note tbe persistency with which many well-educated, as 
well as most uneducated persons, use the objective pronouns me, he)', 
him, them, after the various tenses of the substantive verb to be, in spite of 
the injunctions of grammarians. The habit of saying, “ It is me,” “ It is 
him,’’instead of “It is I,” “It is he,” is so universal and so fixed that 
some modern writers on English philology have been disposed to regard it 
as allowable. 

Possibly to the same cause we may ascribe the general disuse, in ordi¬ 
nary speech, of whom as the objective case of who. Instead of “ the man 
whom I met,” almost every one would say, “ the man that I met;” or, more 
briefly, “the man I met.” Both of these modes of expression are in ac¬ 
cordance with grammatical rules. Not so is the equally common form of 
interrogation, “ Who did you meet?” “ Who were you speaking to?” Here 
whom would be correct, and yet would seem so stiff, that many who know 
the right would yet pursue the wrong way deliberately. A little alteration 
of the phrase, in such a case, will often make it more satisfactory in every 
way; as, for example, “ Who was the person you were speaking to?” 

The word anticipate is frequently misused in the sense of expect. Thus: 
“I anticipate seeing her this evening.” Now, “ anticipate ” means, by de¬ 
rivation, to take beforehand, and its proper meaning in English is to take 
first possession of, or to take before the proper time. A man may antici¬ 
pate another in doing something which both intend doing; that is, he may 
succeed in doing it first. But his looking forward to doing either of these 
acts is not anticipation; it is expectation. “Particle ” is strangely used to 
mean “ at all,” or “ degree,” as we very colloquially use “ bit.” Thus, 


493 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 

“ Bid I hurt you ? ” asks a gentleman who has accidentally stumbled 
against another. “ Not a particle,” is the answer. He means not at all. 
Particle literally means the smallest possible division of matter; and it is 
so material and mechanical in its signification, that the use of it to express 
degree, and especially degree of pleasure or pain, is, to say the very least, 
in the worst possible taste. Remember and recollect are not synonymous 
terms, since we all remember many things which we cannot readily 
recollect, or re-collect. Therefore the expression, “ I don’t remember, 
but I will try to recollect,” is not only correct, but it sets forth a con¬ 
dition of the mind expressible in no other way, and to speak of which 
we have frequent necessity. The pronoun “ their ” is commonly misused 
with reference t > a singular noun. “ If a person is poor, they should make 
the best of it,” writes a would-be moralist. This is an extreme instance of 
the straits to which we are driven by the lack in English of a pronoun of 
common gender meaning both he and she, his and her. But, admitting this 
lack, the fact remains that his is the representative pronoun, as mankind 
includes both men and women. To use “ his or her ” in cases of this kind 
is to the last degree pedantic. Many people use the word ascetic as if it 
meant elegant, refined. Describing the library of a gentleman of fashion, it 
is said that “ It was just such a collection of books as a man of his ascetic 
tastes would select.” Now ascetic really means austere, rigid. A hermit’s 
habits of life are ascetic. The writer of the sentence just quoted should 
have substituted the word luxurious, or cultivated. 

Children closely follow the example of their elders, particularly if said 
example chances to be a bad one. It would be better for our youth if its 
teachers corrected the slang and mistakes of everyday life, and illustrated 
the rules they teach; for one child in a class speaking impure language will 
certainly infect the rest. The children of some households speak with a 
refined method, as if by instinct, but it will generally be traced to parents, 
for we are all influenced by our surroundings. A child lately questioned in 
Sunday school admitted, “ I done it,” and a young man immediately after 
remarked, “ They’ve went,” instead of “ They have gone.” By such teach¬ 
ing children are unconsciously influenced. Well-bred persons usually 
speak slowly, with proper emphasis and without abbreviations. Every man 
cannot possess a rich, full voice; it is a heritage of some families, and 
refreshing to listen to among the shrill, thin voices one meets so often. But 
cultivation does a great deal, and nothing is more useful than to think of 
each word and speak the simplest language without haste, yet at the same 
time without drawl or affectation. The abandonment of superfluous ad¬ 
jectives would greatly improve our lauguage. I was talking of a poem to a 
youn" girl lately, and she said it was “ elegant,” and when I described a 
new kind of taffy she said it was “ perfectly lovely.” There was neither 
sense nor reason in this mixture of terms. Another young girl is very 
pretty until she opens her mouth. Then her first words are likely to be, 
“ Land sakes!” or “ Clara an’ me are goin’,” clipping words and misplac¬ 
ing them till one is reminded of poor Hannah Jane, who spelled kiss with 

one s. , , 

The following are examples of exceedingly vulgar yet by no means 
uncommon errors of speech. The italicized words are the incorrect ones; 

The dinner was ate in silence. Say eaten. 

The doctor has not came yet. Say come. 

I see h im last week. Say saw, 

I have rang several times. Say I have rung, or I rang 


404 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 


Was you reading when I came in ? Say were. 

She can read better than me. Say better than I. 

It was given to you and I. Say you and me. You would not hay it was 
given to I, neither should you say “ you and I.” 

I have a new pair of gloves. Which is new, the pair or the gloves ? Say 
a pair of new gloves. 

James lost near about ten dollars. Say nearly ten dollars. 

I eat this cake. Say ate. 

A summer's morning is beautiful. Say summer morning. 

Simple Rules for Spelling 1 .— Words ending in e drop that letter be¬ 
fore the termination able, as in move, movable; unless ending in ce or ge, 
when it is retained, as in change, changeable, etc. 

Words of one syllable ending in a consonant, with a single vowel before 
it, double that consonant in derivatives; as ship, shipping, etc. But if end¬ 
ing in a consonant with a double vowel before it, they do not double the 
consonant in derivatives; as troop, trooper, etc. 

Words of more than one syllable, ending in a consonant preceded by a 
single vowel, and accented on the last syllable, double that consonant in 
derivatives; as commit, committed; but except chagrin, chagrined. 

All words of one syllable ending in l , with a single vowel before it, have 
double ll at the close; as mill, sell. 

All words of one syllable ending in l, with a double vowel before it, have 
only one l at the close; as mail, sail. 

The words foretell, distill, instill and fulfill, retain the double l of their 
primitives. Derivatives of dull, skill, will and full, also retain the U when 
the accent falls on these words; as dullness, skillful, willful, fullness. 

Words of more than one syllable ending in l have only one Z at the close; 
as delightful, faithful; unless the accent falls on the last syllable; as iu 
befall, etc. 

Words ending in Z double that letter in the termination ly. 

Participles ending in ing , from verbs ending in e, lose the final e; as have, 
having; make, making, etc.; but verbs ending in ee retain both, as see, see¬ 
ing. The word dye, to color, however, must retain the e before ing. 

All verbs ending in ly, and nouns ending in merit, retain the e final of the 
primitives; as brave, bravely; refine, refinement; except words endiug in 
dge; as acknowledge, acknowledgment. 

Nouns ending in y , preceded by a vowel, form their plural by adding s; 
as money, moneys; but if y is preceded by a consonant, it is changed to ies 
in the plural; as bounty, bounties. 

Compound words whose primitives end in y, change the y into i; as 
beauty, beautiful. 

The Use of Capitals. - 1 . Every entire sentence should begin with a 
capital. 

2. Proper names, and adjectives derived from these, should begin with 
a capital. 

3. All appellations of the Deity should begin with a capital. 

4. Official and Honorary Titles begin with a capital. 

5. Every line of poetry should begin with a capital. 

6. Titles of books and the beads of their chapters and divisions are 
printed in capitals. 

7. The pronoun I, and the exclamation u, are always capitals. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 495 

8. The days of the week, and the months of the year, begin with capi¬ 
tals. 

9. Every quotation should begin with a capital letter. 

10. Names of religious denominations begin with capitals. 

11. In preparing accounts, each item should begin with a capital. 

12. Any word of very special importance may begin with a capital. 

An Exercise in Pronunciation.— The following rather curious 
piece of composition was once placed upon a blackboard at a teachers’ in¬ 
stitute, and a prize of a Webster’s Dictionary offered to any person who 
could read and pronounce every word correctly. The book was not carried 
off, however, as twelve was the lowest number of mistakes in the pronunci¬ 
ation made: “ A sacrilegious son of Belial, who suffered from bronchitis, 
having exhausted his finances, in order to make good the deficit, resolved 
to ally himself to a comely, lenient, and docile young lady of the Malay or 
Caucasian race. He accordingly purchased a calliope and coral necklace of 
a chameleon hue, and securing a suite of rooms at a principal hotel he en¬ 
gaged the head waiter as a coadjutor. He then dispatched a letter of the 
most unexceptional caligraphy extant, inviting the young lady to a matinee. 
She revolted at the idea, refused to consider herself sacrificable to his de¬ 
sires, and sent a polite note of refusal; on receiving which he procured a 
carbine and bowie-knife, said that ho would not now forge letters hymeneal 
with the queen, went to an isolated spot, severed his jugular vein and dis¬ 
charged the contents of the carbine into his abdomen. The debris was re¬ 
moved by the coroner.” 

A Glossary of Wall Street Phrases.— Readers interested in stocK 
speculations will find the following vocabulary of terms used in Wall Street 
worth remembering: 

A Bull is one who operates to depress the value of stocks, that he may 
buy for a rise. 

A Bear is one who sells stocks for future delivery, which he does not 
own at the time of delivery. 

Bear MarkeL-Nhen the market is heavy ana falling, and lower prices 
are expected, in consequence of the efforts of the “ bear.” A “ bull market ” 
is the reverse. 

Bear the market— i. e., operate for a decline. A bear is naturally 
“ short ” of stocks, and expecting to profit by a decline. To “ bull the mar¬ 
ket” is to operate for a rise in values. 

Shall, is when a person or party sells stocks when they have none, and 
expect to buy or borrow in time to deliver. 

Long is when a person or party has a plentiful supply of stocks. 

Overloaded is when the Bulls cannot take and pay for the stock they 
have purchased. 

Boi'rowing and loaning stocks —When a party has sold stock short and 
has not bought in by the time the delivery must be made, he “ borrows ” 
the stock for the purpose of making the delivery, paying the owner the 
market price on demand, or at a fixed time, the lender of the stock paying 
the borrower an agreed rate of interest on the money, or the borrower pay¬ 
ing the lender an agreed premium for the use of the stock, as the case may be. 

Cover, to “ cover one's shorts ’’—Where stock has been sold short and the 
seller buys it in to realize his profit, or to protect himself from loss, or to 
make his delivery. This is “ covering short sales.” 


496 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDCE. 

A call —The privilege obtained, for a consideration, of calling for a cer¬ 
tain number of shares of stock, at a given price, within a time named. 

Carrying stock —Holding stock by a broker for his customers on a mar¬ 
gin. 

Clique —A combination of operators formed for the purpose of artificially 
influencing the market by their combined operations. 

Corner— When the market is oversold, the shorts, if compelled to de¬ 
liver, sometimes find themselves in a “ corner.” 

Curbstone Brokers —Men who are not members of any regular organiza¬ 
tion, and do business mainly upon the sidewalk. 

Flyers —Is a small side operation, not employing one’s whole capital, or 
not in the line of his ordinary operations. 

Lamb—A very green “ outsider ” who essays stock speculation. 

Limited order— An order to buy and sell within a certain fixed price, 
above or below which the party giving the order does not wish to go. 

Margins —Where one buys or sells for speculation, and deposits with his 
broker a percentage of value to enable the latter to “ carry ”~the stock and 
protect him against loss from fluctuations in value. 

Milking the streets —The act of cliques or great operators who hold cer¬ 
tain stock so well in hand that they cause any fluctuations they please. By 
alternately lifting and depressing prices, they “milk” the small operators 
and the outside. 

Put To buy a “ put ” is to obtain the right, for a consideration, to de¬ 
liver a stock at a certain agreed price within a given number of days. 

Stop order— An order to sell out stock in case it should decline to a cer¬ 
tain price or to buy short stock in case it should advance to a certain price. 
A means adopted by a party “ long » or “ short ” of a stock to limit his loss 
to a certain figure. 

Turn stocks —Consists in buying for cash or regular way and selling a 
like amount of the same stojk at the same time, on “ option,” thereby mak¬ 
ing six per cent, interest and difference that may exist at the time between 
the market price ot the stock for cash and an option; or selling for cash and 
buying on option, when the stock is hard to carry and the holder, hoping 
for a rise, does not want to get out of it. 

Washing—la where one broker arranges with another to pay a certain 
stock when he offers it for sale. The bargain is fictitious, and the effort 
when not detected, is to keep it quoted and afford a basis for bona-fide 
sales. It is not countenanced by the rules of exchange, and if discovered 
renders members engaged in it liable to the penalty of expulsion. 

Commerce of the World. —France exports wines, brandies, silks 
fancy articles, furniture, jewelry, clocks, watches, paper, perfumery and 
fancy goods generally. 

Italy exports corn, oil, flax, flour, wines, essences, dye-stuffs, drugs, fine 
marble, soap, paintings, engravings, molasses and salt. 

Prussia exports linen, woollens, zinc, articles of copper, iron and brass 
indigo, wax, hams, musical instruments, tobacco, wines and porcelain 

Germany exports wool, woollen goods, linens, rags, corn, timber,’iron 
lead, tin, flax, hemp, wines, wax, tallow and cattle. 

Austria exports minerals, raw and manufactured silk thread, glass wax 
tar, nutgall, wine, honey and mathematical instruments. 

England exports cottons, woollens, glass, hardware, earthenware, cut¬ 
lery, iron, metallic wares, salt, coal, watches, tin, silk and linens, 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 497 

Russia exports tallow, flax, hemp, flour, iron, linseed, lard, hides, wax, 
duck, cordage, bristles, fur and potash. 

Spain exports wines, brandies, iron, fresh and dried fruits, quicksilver, 
sulphur, salt, cork, saffron, anchovies and woollens. 

China exports tea, rhubarb, musk, ginger, borax, zinc, silks, cassia, fili¬ 
gree work, ivory ware, lacquered ware and porcelain. 

Turkey exports opium, silks, drugs, gums, dried fruits, tobacco, wmes, 
camels’ hair, carpets, shawls, camlets and morocco. 

Hindostan exports gold and silver, cochineal, indigo, sarsaparilla, va¬ 
nilla, jalap, fustic, Campeachy wood, pimento, drugs and dyestuffs. 

Brazil exports coffee, indigo, sugar, rice, hides, dried meats, tallow, 
gold, diamonds and other stones, gums, mahogany and India-rubber. 

The West Indies export sugar, molasses, rum, tobacco, cigars, mahog¬ 
any, dye-woods, coffee, pimento, fresh fruits and preserves, wax, ginger, 
and other spices. 

East India exports cloves, nutmegs, mace, pepper, rice, indigo, gold, 
dung, camphor, benzine, sulphur, ivory, rattan, sandalwood, zinc and nuts. 

The United States export principally agricultural produce, tobacco, cot¬ 
ton, flour, provisions of all kinds, lumber, turpentine, agricultural imple¬ 
ments, sewing machines, cotton goods, cutlery, builders’ hardware, furni¬ 
ture, locomotives, munitions of war, gold, silver, quicksilver, and bo forth. 

Curious Facts in Natural History _Man generally flatters him¬ 

self that his anatomy is about the highest effort of Divine skill; yet that 
of the insect is far more complicated. No portion of our organism can 
compare with the proboscis of the common fly. Man can boast 370 mus¬ 
cles. Lyonet, who spent his whole life in watching a single species of cat¬ 
erpillar, discovered in it 4,000. The common fly has 8,000 eyes, and certain 
butterflies 25,000. M. Pouchet treats it as an established fact that so fine 
are the sensory organs of ants, that they converse by means of their an- 
tennte. Consequently the strength and activity of insects far surpasses 
ours in proportion. In the whole field of natural science there is nothing 
more astounding than the number of times a fly can clap its wings in a 
second. As the fly passes through space at the rate of six feet in a second, 
it must in that point of time vibrate its wings five or six hundred times. 
But in rapid flight we are required to believe 3,600 is a moderate estimate. 
The mind is stupefied if it attempts to realize these results. 

Toads are not the only animals which have the power of living for a con¬ 
siderable time without nourishment and communication with the external 
air. Two living worms were found in Spain in the middle of a block of 
marble which a sculptor was carving into a lion for the royal family. These 
worms occupied two small cavities, to which there was no inlet that could 
possibly admit the air. They subsisted, probably, on the marble, as they 
were of the same color. This’ fact was verified by Captain Ulloa, a fam¬ 
ous Spaniard, who accompanied the French Academicians in their voyage 
to Peru for the purpose of ascertaining the figure of the earth. He asserts 
that he saw these two worms. A beetle of the species called capricorn was 
found in a piece of wood in the hold of a ship at Plymouth. The wood had 
no external mark of any aperture. We read in the Affiches de Province , 
June, 1772, that an adder was found alive in the center of a block of marble 
thirty feet in diameter. It was folded nine times round in a spiral line; it 
was incapable of supporting air, and died a few minutes after. Upon ex¬ 
amining the stone, not the smallest trace was to be found by which it could 


498 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLE DG-E. 


have glided in, or received it. Misaon, in his travels through Italy, men¬ 
tions a cray-fish that was found alive in the midst of a mass of marble in 
the environs of Tivoli. M. Peyssonel, king’s physician at Guadaloupe, hav¬ 
ing ordered a pit to be dug at the back of his house, was told by the work¬ 
men that live frogs were found by them in beds of petrifaction. M. Peys¬ 
sonel, suspecting some deceit, descended into the pit, dug the bed of rock 
and petrifactions, and drew out green frogs, which were alive and exactly 
similar to what we see every day. 

Serpents are said to obey the voice of their master. The trumpet-bird 
of America follows its owner like a spaniel, and the jacana acts as a guard 
to poultry, protecting them in the field all day from birds of prey, and es¬ 
corting them home at night. In the Shetland Isles there is a gull which de¬ 
fends the flock from eagles; it is therefore regarded as the privileged bird. 
The chamois, bounding over the mountain, are indebted to their safety in 
no small degree, to a species of pheasants. The bird acts as the sentinel; 
for as soon as it gets sight of a man, it whistles, upon hearing which, the 
chamois, knowing the hunters to be near, sets off at full speed. The arti¬ 
fices which partridges and plovers employ to delude their enemies from the 
nest of their young, may be referred to as a case in point, as well as the 
adroit contrivances of the hind for the preservation of her young; for when 
she hears the sound of dogs, she puts herself in the way of the hunter, and 
starts in a direction to draw them away from her fawns. Instances of the 
effect of grief upon animals are no less remarkable. The writer already 
cited says: “ I knew a dog that died of sorrow at the loss of his master, and 
a bullfinch that abstained from singing ten entire months, on account of the 
absence of its mistress. On her return it immediately resumed its song.” 
Lord Kaimes relates an instance of a canary which, while singing to a mate, 
hatching her eggs in a cage, fell dead; the female left the nest, and finding 
him dead, rejected all food, and died by his side. 

Toads become torpid in winter and hide themselves, taking no food for 
five or six months. 

Serpents of all species shed their skins annually, like sea-crabs and 
lobsters. 

Turtles and tortoises have their skeletons partly outside in place of 
within their bodies. 

It is believed that crocodiles live to be hundreds of years old. Tho 
Egyptians embalmed them. 

In South America there is a prolific honey-bee which has not been fur¬ 
nished with a sting. 

In the darkest night, fishes pursue their usual movements the same as 
by daylight. 

Seals are as intelligent as dogs, and can be trained to perform many 
tricks like them. 

The head of the rattlesnake has been known to inflict a fatal wound after 
being severed from the body. 

If the eye of a newt is put out, another perfect one is soon supplied by 
rapid growth. 

Fishes have no eyelids, and necessarily sleep with their eyes wide 
open. 

Alligators fall into a lethargic sleep during the winter season, like tho 
toad. 

The power of serpents to charm birds and small quadrupeds is a well 
authenticated faot. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


490 


Duration of Life of Various Animals. -Elephant, 100 years and 
upward; Rhinoceros, 20; Camel, 100; Lion, 25 to 70; Tigers, Leopards, 
Jaguars and Hyenas (in confinement), about 25; Beaver, 50; Deer, 20; 
Wolf, 20; Fox, 14 to 16; Llamas, 15; Chamois, 25; Monkeys and Baboons, 
16 to 18; Hare, 8; Squirrel, 7; Rabbit, 7; Swine, 25; Stag, under 50; Horse, 
30; Ass, 30; Sheep, under 10; Cow, 20; Ox, 30; Swans, Parrots and Ra¬ 
vens, 200; Eagle, 100; Geese, 80; Hens and Pigeons, 10 to 16; Hawks, 
30 to 40; Crane, 24; Blackbird, 10 to 12; Peacock, 20; Pelican, 40 to 50; 
Thrush, 8 to 10; Wren, 2 to 3; Nightingale, 15; Blackcap, 15; Linnet, 14 to 
23; Goldfinch, 20 to 24; Redbreast, 10 to 12; Skylark, 10 to 30; Titlark, 5 to 
6; Chaffinch, 20 to 24; Starling, 10 to 12; Carp, 70 to 150; Pike, 30 to 40; Sal¬ 
mon, 16; Codfish, 14 to 17; Eel, 10; Crocodiles, 100; Tortoise, 100 to 200; 
Whale, estimated, 1,000; Queen Bees live 4 years; Drones, 4 months; Worker 
Bees, 6 months. 

Origin of the Names of States _Maine takes its name from the 

province of Main in France, and was so called in compliment to the queen 
of Charles I, Henrietta, its owner. 

New Hampshire, first called Laconia, from Hampshire, England. 

Vermont, from the Green Mountains. (French: vert mont.) 

Massachusetts, from the Indian language, signifying the country about 
the great hills. 

Rhode Island gets its name from the fancied resemblance of the island 
to that of Rhodes in the ancient Levant. 

Connecticut’s was Monegan, spelled originally Quon-eh-ta-cut, signifying 
“a long river.” 

New York was so named as a compliment to the Duke of York, whose 
brother, Charles II, granted him that territory. 

New Jersey was named by one of its original proprietors, Sir George 
Carter, after the Island of Jersey in the British Channel, of which he was 
governor. 

Pennsylvania, as is generally known, takes its name from William Penn, 
and the words “ sylvania,” meaning woods. 

Delaware derives its name from Thomas West, Lord De la Ware, gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia. 

Maryland receives its name from the queen of Charles I, Henrietta Maria. 

Virginia got its name from Queen Elizabeth, unmarried, or virgin queen. 

The Carolinas were named in honor of Charles I, and Georgia in honor 
of Charles H. 

Florida gets its name from Kasquas de Flores, or “ Feast of the Flowers.” 

Alabama comes from a Greek word, signifying “ the land of the rest.” 

Louisiana was so named in honor of Louis XIV. 

Mississippi derived its name from that of the great river, which is, in the 
Natchez tongue, “ the father of waters.” 

Arkansas is derived from the Indian word Kansas, “ smoky waters,” with 
the French prefix of “ ark ”—a bow. 

Tennessee is an Indian name, meaning “ the river with the big bend.” 

Kentucky also is an Indian name—“ Kain-tuk-ae,” signifying “ at the head 
of the river.” 

Ohio is the Shawnee name for “ the beautiful river.” 

Michigan’s name was derived from the lake, the Indian name for fish- 
weir, or trap, which the shape of the lake suggested. 

Indiana’s name came from that of the Indians. 


500 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Illinois’ name is derived from the Indian word “Illini”—men, and the 
French affix, “ois,” making “ tribe of men.” 

Wisconsin’s name is said to be the Indian name for a wild, rushing 
channel. 

Missouri is also an Indian name for muddy, having reference to the 
muddiness of the Missouri River. 

Kansas is an Indian word for smoky water. 

Iowa signifies in the Indian language “ the drowsy ones,” and Minnesota 
“ a cloudy water.” 

Origin of the Names of Countries _The following countries, it 

is said, were originally named by the Phoenicians, the greatest commer¬ 
cial people in the world. The names, in the Phoenician language, signified 
something characteristic of the places which they designate. 

Europe signifies a country of white complexion, so named because the 
inhabitants were of a lighter complexion than those of Asia and Africa. 

Asia signifies between or in the middle, from the fact that the geogra¬ 
phers placed it between Europe and Africa. 

Africa signifies the land of com or ears. It was celebrated for its abund¬ 
ance of corn, and all sorts of grain. 

Siberia signifies thirsty or dry—very characteristic. 

Spain, a country of rabbits or conies. It was once so infested with these 
animals that it sued Augusta for an army to destroy them. 

Italy, a country of pitch, from its yielding great quantities of black pitch. 

Calabria, also, for the same reason. 

Gaul, modern France, signifies yellow-haired, as yellow hair character¬ 
izes its inhabitants. 

The English of Caledonia is a high hill. This was a rugged mountainous 
province in Scotland. 

Hibernia is utmost, or last habitation; for beyond this westward the 
Phoenicians never extended their voyages. 

Britain, the country of tin, great quantities being found on it and adja¬ 
cent islands. The Greeks called it Albion, which signifies in the Phoenician 
tongue either white or high mountains, from the whiteness of its shores, or 
the high rocks on the western coast. 

Corsica signifies a woody place. 

Sardinia signifies the footsteps of men, which it resembles. 

Syracuse, bad savor, so-called from the unwholesome marsh on which it 
stood. 

Rhodes, serpents or dragons, which it produced in abundance. 

Sicily, the country of grapes. 

Scylla, the whirlpool of destruction. 

iEtaa signifies a furnace, or dark or smoky. 

Origin of Popular Fables. —Few persons are aware that many of 
the most popular nursery rhymes and stories have an origin quite different 
from what is usually supposed. Thus, it is generally thought that the 
story of Cinderella was invented by some one in a happy fit of imagination; 
but it is said to be founded on facts. The Greek historian and geographer 
Strabo says that one day as a lady, named Rhodopsi 3 , was bathing in the 
Nile, the wind carried away one of her sandals and laid it at the feet of the 
king of Egypt, who was then holding a court of justice in the open air, not 
far off. His curiosity was excited by the singularity of the event, and by 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. £01 

the elegance of the sandal, and he offered a reward for the discovery of the 
owner of it. The lady claimed it, and it was found to fit her exactly. She 
was very beautiful, and the king married her. She is remembered in 
history as the “ rosy-cheeked queen ” of Egypt, and she lived 2,000 years 
before the Christian era. 

The story of Blue Beard has also been traced to a historical basis. Giles 
de Laval, Marshal of France, in 1428, was distinguished for his military 
abilities, but he rendered himself infamous by his extraordinary impiety 
and debaucheries, and by murdering his wives. He had a long beard of a 
blue-black color, whence he was called Blue Beard. He employed those 
who pretended to be sorcerers to discover hidden treasures, and he cor¬ 
rupted young persons of both sexes to attach them to him, after which he 
killed them for the sake of their blood, which he used for his incantations. 
By order of the Duke of Brittany he was burned alive in a field near 
Nantes, in the year 1440. 

Jack the Giant Killer has been supposed to be derived from the wars of 
King Arthur with his rebellious Cornish vassals, who figure as ogies and 
giants, while the king appears as Jack. Many more cases may be cited. 

“ The House that Jack Built ” had interesting antecedents. This famous 
jingling legend, believed to be an imitation of a medieval Hebrew parable 
in the form of a hymn, was commemorative of the principal events in the 
history of the Jewish people. The original is to be found in the Jewish col¬ 
lection called the Sepher Aaggahah, volume 23, and an interpretation of it 
was given to the world so far back as 1731, by P. N. Lebrecht, of Leipsic. 
There are ten verses. The first consists of two lines and a short refrain, 
thus: “ A kid, a kid my father bought for two pieces of money.” (Refrain), 
“ A kid, a kid.” This refrain is repeated at the end of each verse. The 
second verse commences with the words: “ Then came the cat and ate the 
kid that my father bought for two pieces of money.” The third verse runs: 
“ Then came the dog, and bit the cat that ate the kid,” etc. The fourth is: 
“ Then came the staff, and beat the dog, that bit the cat,” etc. The fifth is: 
“ Then came the fire and burned the stick, that beat the dog,” etc. The 
sixth is: “Then came the water, and quenched the fire that burned the 
staff,” etc. The seventh is: “ Then came the ox, and drank the water, that 
quenched the fire,” etc. The eighth is: “Then came the butcher, and 
slew the ox, that drank the water,” etc. The ninth is: “ Then came the 
angel of death, and killed the butcher, that slew the ox,” etc. The tenth 
and last runs: “ Then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and killed the 
angel of death, that killed the butcher, that slew the ox, that drank the 
water, that quenched the fire, that burned the staff, that beat the dog, that 
bit the cat, that ate the kid, that my father bought for two pieces of money; 
a kid, a kid.” It is evident that this is the model of “ The House that Jack 
Built.” 

Origin of Familiar Quotations.— Thomas Norton is the author of 
that “cute” saying, “What will Mrs. Grundy say?” while Washington 
Irving gives us “The Mighty Dollar.” “God tempers the wind to the 
shorn lamb,” not infrequently attributed to Scripture writer, is from Law¬ 
rence Sterne. Dean Swift says that “ Bread is the staff of life,” and “A little 
learning is a dangerous thing.” The same sentiment is expressed in Pope’s 
well-known line, “ Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.” It is not at 
all unlikely that he derived it from Lord Bacon, who in his “Essay on 
Atheism,” says: 


502 CYCLOPEDIA OP VSEETJL KNOWLEDGE. 

“ A little philosophy inclineth man’s vnind to Atheism, but depth in 
philosophy bringeth man’s mind about to religion.” Pope tells ns to 
“ shoot folly as it flies; ” was it suggested by Dryden’s “ and shoots their 
treasons as* they fly?”—found in his Absolom. Lady Wortley Montague 
says: “ I admired Mr Pope’s ‘ Essay on Criticism ’ at first very much, be¬ 
cause I had not then read any ot the ancient critics and did not know that 
it was all stolen.” This is, of course, not to be taken literally, but it is a 
well-known, indisputable fact that poets—and not they only—are imitators 
and borrowers, and to put it mildly, unconscious plagiarists. Of course, 
Byron was but jesting when he said to Moore, who, observing a book beside 
him full of paper marks, asked him what it was, replied: “ Only a book 
from which I am trying to crib , as I do whenever I can, and that’s the way 
I got the character of an original poet.” He wrote, however, in his journal, 
“ As for originality, all pretentions to it are ridiculous; there is nothing new 
under the sun.” 

“ Like angels’ visits, few and far between,” found in Campbell’s Pleas¬ 
ures of Hope, seems to bo an echo of this from Blair’s Grave: “Its visits> 
like those of angels, short and far between.” 

Cowper’s oft-quoted line, 

“ England, with all thy faults I love thee still,” 
is almost verbatim this found in Churchill’s Farewell, 

“ Be England what she will 

With all her faults she is my country still.'’ 

“Variety is the spice of life,” and “Not much the worse for wear,” 
Cowper. “ Man proposes but God disposes,” Thomas a Kempis. “ Of 
two evils choose the least,” and “ The end must justify the means,” are 
from Matthew Prior. 

Origin of Genius. —Columbus was the son of a weaver and a weaver 
himself. 

Rabelais, son of an aputhecary. 

Claude Lorraine was bred a pastry cook. 

Moliere, son of a tapestry maker. 

Cervantes served as a common soldier. 

Homer was a beggar. 

Hesiod was the son of a small farmer. 

Demosthenes of a cutler. 

Terence was a slave. 

Richardson was a printer. 

Oliver Cromwell, the son of a brewer. 

Howard, an apprentice to a grocer. 

Benjamin Franklin, a journeyman printer. 

Doctor Thomas, Bishop of Worcester, son of a linen draper. 

Whitfield, son of an inn-keeper at Gloucester. 

Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Rear-Admiral of England, was an apprentice to a 
shoemaker, and afterward a cabin boy. 

Bishop Prideaux worked in the kitchen at Exeter College, Oxford. 

Cardinal Wolsey, son of a butcher. 

Ferguson was a shepherd. 

Neibuhr was a peasant. 

Thomas Paine, son of a staymaker at Thetford. 

Dean Tucker was the son of a small farmer in Cardignshire, and per¬ 
formed journeys to Oxlord on foot. 


503 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 

Edmund Halley was the son of a soap boiler at Shoreditch. 

Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, son of a farmer at Ashby de la Zouch. 

William Hogarth was put apprentice to an engraver of pewter pots. 

Dr. Mountain, Bishop of Durham, was the son of a beggar. 

Lucian was the son of a statuary. 

Virgil of a potter. 

Horace of a shopkeeper. 

Plautus, a baker. 

Gay was apprenticed to a silk mercer. 

Dr. Samuel Johnson was the son of a bookseller at Litchfield. 

Akenside, son of a butcher at Newcastle. 

Collins, son of a hatter. 

Samuel Butler, son of a farmer. 

Ben Jonson worked for some time as a bricklayer. 

Robert Burns was a plowman in Ayrshire. 

Thomas Chatterton, son of the sexton of Redcliffe Church, Bristol. 

Thomas Gray was the son of a money scrivener. 

Matthew Prior, son of a joiner in London. 

Origin of Plants.— The potato is a native of South America, and is 
still found wild in Peru, Chili, and Montevideo. The first notice of it by 
Europeans was in 1588. It is now spread over a great part of the world. 
Wheat and rye originated in Siberia and Tartary, where they are now in¬ 
digenous. Oats are found wild in Abyssinia, and may be justly considered 
natural to the country. Maize, or Indian corn, is a native of Mexico and 
other parts of North America. It was not known in Europe till after the 
discovery and possession of Mexico by the Spaniards. The bread-fruit tree 
was first found in Otaheite and other South-sea islands. Near the close of 
the last century, it was transplanted in the West Indies. Tea is found only 
in China and Japan. The cocoa-nut is found indigenous in the equatorial 
regions. Coffee is a native of Arabia, and of that part called Arabia Pelix, 
but is now grown m the East and West Indies. The apple is found on most 
parts of the globe. But in its wild or natural state, it is merely the crab 
apple, and has been varied and improved by cultivation. The peach is a 
native of Persia, but in its natural state is small and bitter, or acid, and 
considered unwholesome. Tobacco is a native of South America and cf 
Mexico. A species of this plant has been lately found in New Holland. 
Asparagus was brought from Asia; cabbage and lettuce from Holland; rice 
from Ethiopia and from the East Indies, and onions from Africa and some 
parts of Asia. The sugar cane is a native of China, and the manufacture of 
sugar was known therefrom the remotest antiquity. It was thence cai- 
ried to Arabia, thence to Egypt, and thence by the Moors into Spain, and 
thence to the West Indies and Brazil. Many flowers are from Java and 
Ceylon, from Cappadocia, from Syria and Italy. 

Dying Words of Famous Persons —“ It is well.”—Washington. 

“ I must sleep now.”—Byron. 

“ Head of the army.”— Napoleon. 

“ Don’t give up the ship.”—Lawrence. 

“ Let the light enter.”— Goethe. 

“ Independence forever.”—Adams. 

“ Is this your fidelity?”—Nero. 

“ Give Dayroles a chair.”—Lord Chesterfield. 


504 CYCLOPEDIA OP TTSEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 

“ It ia the last of earth.”—J. Q. Adams. 

“ God preserve the emperor.”—Haydn. 

“A dying man does nothing well.”—Franklin. 

“ Let not poor Nelly starve.”—Charles II. 

“ What, is there no bribing death?”—Cardinal Beaufort. 

“ All my possessions for a moment of time.”—Queen Elizabeth. 

“It matters little how the head lieth.”—Sir Walter Raleigh. 

“ Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die.”—Alfieri. 

“ I feel as if I were to be myself again.”—Sir Walter Scott. 

“ Let me die to the sound ol delicious music.”—Mirabeau. 

“I have loved God, my father and liberty.”—Mme. de Stael, 

“ It is small, very small indeed ” (clasping her neck).—Anne Boleyn. 

“ I Pray you see me safe up, and for my coming down let me shift for 
myself” (ascending the scaffold).—Sir Thomas More. 

“ Don’t let that awkward squad fire over my grave.”—Burns. 

“I resign my soul to God—and my daughter to my country.”—Thomas 
Jefferson. * 

“ I w i s h you to understand the true principles of the Government. I 
wish them carried out. I ask nothing more.”— Harrison. 

“ I have endeavored to do my duty.”—Taylor. 

“You spoke of refreshment, my Emilie; take my last notes, sit down to 
my piano here, sing them with the hymn of your sainted mother; let me 
hear once more those notes which have so long been my solacement and 
delight.”—Mozart. 

“God bless you, my dear.”—Dr. Johnson. 

“ God bless you! Is that you, Dora?”—Wordsworth. 

“ Now it is come.”—John Knox. 

“ Dying, dying.”—Hood. 

“ How grand these rays; they seem to beckon earth to heaven ” (the sun 
was shining brilliantly into the room in which he was lying.)_Humboldt. 

Idiosyncrasies of Men of Genius.— Most geniuses and men of 

great talent have been known for some peculiar habit or striking idiosyn¬ 
crasy. Napoleon would tremble with fear at sight of a cat. General El¬ 
liott, of Gibraltar fame, was always accompanied by a number of them 
Johnson liked to imbibe floods of tea or wine, and yet be none the worse tor 
it. Person drank everything that came in his way. Visiting once a friend’s 
house, when evening came they desired to feed the lamp, but the bottle was 
empty. Porson had drank the spirits on the sly, not knowing it was intended 
for the lamp. Douglas Jerrold could not bear the smell of apples Caven¬ 
dish hated women. If he met one of his own female servants by accident 
in any part of the house, she was instantly dismissed. Garrick was vain 
almost to the degree of insanity. Rousseau was vain and could not write 
except when dressed as a fop. Bulwer Lytton, it is said, could write best 
when dressed in a court suit. Marlborough was a miser, mended his own 
stockings to save paying for it, and would walk home ever so late at nmht 
rather than pay for a “chair.” Napoleon did his “thinking” and 
formed his plans tor conquest while pacing in a garden, shrugging his 
shoulders now and then as if to help and “compress” thought When 
Thiers was engaged in his long and oratorical displays he always had be¬ 
side him a supply of rum and coffee. The coffee he got direct from Mecca 
Gibson dictated while walking in his room, like Scott and many others* 
Moliere wrote with his knees near the fire, and Bacon liked to study in a 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELlANfiOTTS. 


505 


small room, which, he said, helped him to condense his thoughts. George 
Stephenson used to lie in bed for two or three days, the better to “ think 
out ” his plan. It would be better if people do this who have much thinking 
to do, as rest favors thought, and those who have not a vigorous circulation 
find the supply of blood to the brain assisted by a recumbent position. 

Pate of the Apostles. —Matthew is supposed to have suffered mar¬ 
tyrdom, or was put to death by the sword at the city of Ethiopia. 

Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria, in Egypt, until he 
expired. 

Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in Greece. 

John was put in a cauldron of boiling oil at Rome and escaped death. 
He afterward died a natural death at Ephesus, in Asia. 

James the Great was beheaded at Jerusalem. 

James the Less was thrown from a pinnacle or wing of the temple and 
then beaten to death with a fuller’s club. 

Philip was hanged up against a pillar at Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia. 

Bartholomew was flayed alive by the command of a barbarous king. 

Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to the people till he 
expired. 

Thomas was run through the body by a lance near Malipar, in the East 
Indies. 

Jude was shot to death with arrows. 

Simeon Zelotes was crucified in Persia. 

Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. 

Peter was crucified with his head downwards. 

Paul, the last and chief of the apostles, also died by violence. 

Statistics of the Globe. —The earth is inhabited by about 1,300 mil¬ 
lions of inhabitants, viz: 


Of the Caucasian race. 360,000,000 

Of the Mongolian. 550,000,000 

Of the Ethiopian. 190,000,000 

Of the Malay. 200,000,000 

Of the American Indian. 1,000,000 


There are about 3,064 languages spoken in the world, and its inhabi¬ 
tants profess more than 1,000 different religions. The number of men is 
about equal to the number of women. The average of human life is about 
33 years. One-quarter die previous to the age of 7 years, one-half before 
reaching 17, and those who pass this age enjoy a felicity refused one half of 
the human species. To every 1,000 persons, only 1 reaches 100 years of 
life; to every 100, only 6 reach the age of 65; and not more than 1 in 500 
lives to 80 years of age. There are on the earth 1,000,000,000 inhabitants; of 
these 33,333,333 die every year, 91,824 every day, 3,730 every hour, and 60 
every minute, or 1 every second. The married are longer lived than the 
single, and above all, those who observe a sober and industrious conduct. 
Tall men live longer than short ones. Women have more chances of life 
in their favor previous to their being 50 years of age than men have, but 
fewer afterward. The number of marriages is in the proportion of 75 to 
every 1,000 individuals. Marriages are more frequent after the equinoxes, 
that is, during the months of June and December. Those born in the spring 
are more robust than others. Births and deaths are more frequent by night 
than by day. The number of men capable of bearing arms is calculated at 
one-fourth of the population. 







506 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Leading Governments of the World.-Of the leading govern¬ 
ments of the world fourteen are constitutional monarchies and thirteen are 
republics, while nine are despotisms. They may be enumerated as follows: 

1. British Empire, constitutional. 

2. Denmark, constitutional. 

3. Norway and Sweden, constitutional. 

4. Russia, despotic. 

5. Holland and Belgium, constitutional. 

6. Hanover, constitutional. 

7. German Empire, constitutional. 

8. Switzerland, republic. 

9. Austrian Empire, constitutional. 

10. France, republic. 

11. Spain, constitutional. 

12. Portugal, constitutional. 

18. Italy, constitutional. 

14. Greece, constitutional. 

15. Turkish Empire, despotic. 

16. Persia, despotic. 

17. Afghanistan and Beloochistan, constitutional. 

18. Tartary, despotic. 

19. Hindostan, constitutional. 

20. Indo-China, despotic. 

21. Chinese Empire, despotic. 

22. Egypt, despotic. 

23. Abyssinia, despotic. 

24. United States, republic. 

25. Mexico, republic. 

26. Central America, republic. 

27. Granada, republic. 

28. Brazil, constitutional. 

29. Peru, republic. 

30. Bolivia, republic. 

31. Chili, republic. 

32. Aracania, despotic. 

33. La Plata, republic. 

34. Paraguay, republic. 

35. Uruguay, republic. 

36. Hayti, republic. 

The Sovereigns of Christendom.—There are at the present mo¬ 
ment thirty-six reigning sovereigns in Christendom, from the Queen of Eng¬ 
land, to whom 237,000,000 of human beings own their allegiance, to the 
Prince of Monaco, whom 5,742 subjects acknowledge as their leige lord. Of 
these princes, ten are nominally Roman Catholic, namely, the Emperors of 
Austria and Brazil, the Kings of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Bavaria, 
Saxony, the Princes of Lichtenstein and Monaco. Of the remaining twenty- 
six, two belong the Greek Church, though the Czar and the King of the Hel¬ 
lenes belong to different branches of it. The other twenty-four are Protes¬ 
tants, sixteen being called Lutherans, four (including the German Emperor) 
belonging to the “Evangelical” confession, three to the “reformed” 
Church, and one being the “ supreme head on the earth ” of the Church of 
England, but the vast majority of Queen Victoria’s subjects (139,000,000) 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


507 


are neither Protestant nor Catholics, hnt Hindoos, while the Mahommedans, 
40,000,000 in number, are themselves more numerous than the Protestants 
of all denominations in the empire. 

Wealth, of the Presidents.—General Grant, previous to his recent 
losses, was estimated to be worth $200,000. Hayes is not rich, though in a 
well-to-do condition. Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln each left 
$50,000. James Buchanan died worth $200,000. Franklin Pierce entered the 
White House poor, but went hack to Concord worth $60,000. Millard Fill¬ 
more made a snug fortune out of the law, and was comparatively rich when 
he became President. General Taylor saved his army salary, and was in 
independent circumstances when elected to the presidency. He held the 
office hardly a year and a half, and left a property worth $50,000. Tyler 
was a bankrupt when the death of Harrison made him President, and he 
married a fortune in Miss Gardiner. He went out of office a rich man, but 
he became a leader in the Confederacy and his property was sunk in the 
general ruin occasioned by the war. James K. Polk had good opportunity 
to make money before his election, and he was an economist by nature. 
He left $150,000. Martin Yan Buren was the richest of all our Presidents, 
his estate being estimated at $800,000. He made money as a lawyer and 
also as a politician, and his real estate purchases became immensely profita¬ 
ble, but his money has been almost entirely wasted by his heirs. Andrew 
Jackson was not a money-making man. He lived nine years after the ex¬ 
piration of his term of office, and left only a large landed estate commonly 
known as the Hermitage. John Quincy Adams was a methodical business 
man and an economist. He left about $60,000, which at that time was a 
large sum. James Monroe was so poor in his old age that he became the 
guest of his son-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur, of New York, where he 
died. Madison was more successful in taking care of his money, and left 
his widow a property which enabled her to live handsomely in Washington 
till the end of her days. Jefferson passed his last days in much distress, and 
was really afraid that his place would be sold by the sheriff. He was 
an object of public charity, and subscription was opened in his behalf in 
New York, but his death occurred so soon that the benevolent effort was 
not required. Old John Adams left an estate worth $30,000. Washington 
was a rich man for his day, his wealth being solely due to marriage. 
Mount Yemon was not a productive property, but Mrs. Custis brought him 
a large fortune which she inherited from her first husband. Viewing our 
Presidents in a mere pecuniary estimate, there are a hundred men in New 
York each of whom could buy out the whole of them. When one contem¬ 
plates their true worth, however, one sees how utterly poor mere wealth 
becomes in comparison. 

American Wonders.—The greatest wonder in the world is the Falls 
of Niagara, where the water from the great upper lakes forms a river of 
three-quarters of a mile in width, and then, being suddenly contracted, 
plunges over the rocks, in two columns, to the depth of one hundred and 
seventy feet each. 

The greatest cave in the world is the Mammotli Cave, in Kentucky, 
where any one can make a voyage on the waters of a subterranean river, 
and catch fish without eyes. 

The largest lake in the world is Lake Superior, which is truly an inland 
sea, being four hundred and thirty miles long, and one thousand feet deep. 


508 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLE DUE. 


The greatest natural bridge in the world is the Natural Bridge over 
Cedar Creek, in Virginia. It extends across a chasm eighty feet in width 
and two hundred and fifty feet in depth, at the bottom of which the creek 
flows. 

The greatest mass of solid iron in the world is the Iron Mountain of 
Missouri. It is three hundred and fifty feet high, and two miles in circuit. 

The greatest suspension bridge in the world is the East River Bridge, 
connecting the cities of New York and Brooklyn. Its length is more than 
one mile. 

The greatest monument in the world is the Washington Monument, at 
Washington, D. C. Its height is 555 feet. 

The greatest statue in the world is the Bartholdi Statue, on Bedloe’s Is¬ 
land, New York Bay, presented to America by the people of France. Its 
height is 305 feet. 

The largest number of whale ships in the world is sent out by Nantucket 
and New Bedford, Mass. 

The greatest grain port in the world is Chicago. 

The largest aqueduct in the world is the Croton Aqueduct, in New York. 
Its length is forty and a half miles, and it cost twelve and a half millions of 
dollars. 

The largest deposits of anthracite coal in the world are in Pennsylvania, 
the mines of which supply the market with millions of tons annually, and 
appear to be inexhaustible. 

Insignificant Origin of Great Works.—It is not the tools that 
make the workman, but the trained skill and perseverance of the man him¬ 
self. Some one asked Opic by what wonderful process he mixed his colors. 
“ I mix them with my brains, sir,” was the reply. It is the same with every 
workman who could excel. 

Ferguson made marvelous things—such as his wooden clock, that actu¬ 
ally measured the hours, by means of a common penknife, a tool in every¬ 
body’s hand, but then everybody is not a Ferguson. 

A pan of water and two thermometers were the tools by which Dr. Black 
discovered latent heat; and a prism, a lens, and a sheet of pasteboard en¬ 
abled Newton to unfold the composition of light and the origin of color. 

An eminent foreign savant once called upon Dr. Wollaston, and requested 
to be shown over his laboratory, in which science had been enriched with 
so many important discoveries, when the doctor took him into a little study, 
and pointed to an old tea tray on the table, containing a few watch glasses, 
test papers, a small balance, and a blow pipe, and said: “ There is all the 
laboratory I have.” 

Stockhardt learned the art of combining colors by closely studying butter¬ 
flies’ wings; he would often say no one knew how much he owed to these 
tiny insects. 

A burnt stick and a barn door served Wilkie in lieu of pencil and canvas. 

Bewick first practiced drawing on the cottage walls of his native village, 
which he covered with his sketches in chalk; and Benjamin West made his 
first brushes out of the cat’s tail. 

Ferguson laid himself down in the fields at night in a blanket, and made 
a map of the heavenly bodies, by means of a thread with small beads on it 
stretched between his eyes and the stars. 

Franklin first robbed the thunder cloud of its lightning by means of a 
kite with two cross sticks and a silk handkerchief. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 509 


Watt made his first model of the condensing steam engine out of an old 
anatomist’s syringe, used to inject the arteries previous to dissection. 

Gifford worked his first problem in mathematics, when a cobbler’s 
apprentice, upon small scraps of leather which he beat smooth for 
the purpose, while Bittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated eclipses 
on his plow handle. 


How Money Accumulates.—The following shows how easy it is to 
accumulate a fortune, provided proper steps are taken. The table shows 
what would be the result at the end of fifty years by saving a certain amount 
each day and putting it at interest at the rate of six per cent: 


Daily Savings. 

One cent. 

Ten cents. 

Twenty cents... 
Thirty cents.... 

Forty cents. 

Fifty cents. 


The Result. 
.... % 950 

9,504 
.... 19,006 

.... 28,512 

.... 38,015 

.... 47,520 


Daily Savings. 

Sixty cents. 

Seventy cents... 
Eighty cents.... 
Ninety cents.... 

One dollar.. 

Five dollars. 


The Result. 
... $ 57,024 
66,528 
76,032 
85,537 
... 95,041 

... 475,208 


Nearly every person wastes enough in twenty or thirty years, which, if 
saved and carefully invested, would make a family quite independent; but 
the principle of small savings has been lost sight of in the general desire to 
become wealthy. 


How to Calculate Interest.—The following rules are so simple and 
true that every boy and girl deep in the mysteries of arithmetic should put 
them by for reference. There being no such thing as a fraction in them, 
there is scarcely liability to error or mistake: 

Six per cent.—Multiply any given number of days of interest desired by the 
principal; separate the right-hand figure and divide by six; the result is the 
true interest, in cents, on such sum for such number of days at six per cent. 

Eight per cent.—Multiply any given amount for the number of days upon 
which it is desired to ascertain the interest, and divide by forty-five, and 
the result will be the interest on such sum for the time required at eight 
per cent. 

Ten per cent.—Multiply the same as above and divide by thirty-six, and 
the result will be the amount of interest on such sum for the time required 
at ten per cent. 

How Mail is Constructed. —The average weight of an adult man is 
140 pounds 6 ounces. 

The average weight of a skeleton is about fourteen pounds. 

Number of bones, 240. 

The skeleton measures one inch less than the living man. 

The average weight of the brain of a man is three and a half pounds; of 
a woman, two pounds eleven ounces. 

The brain of man exceeds twice that of any other animal. 

The average height of an Englishman is five feet nine inches; and of a 
Belgian, five feet six and three-quarter inches. 

The average weight of an Englishman is 150 pounds; of a Frenchman, 
136 pounds; a Belgian, 140 pounds. 

The average number of teeth is thirty-two. 

A man breathes about twenty times a minute, or 1,200 times an hour. 

A man breathes about eighteen pints of air in a minute, or upwards of 
seven hogsheads in a day. 















510 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


A man gives off 4'08 per cent, carbonic gas of the air he respires; re¬ 
spires 10,666 cubic feet of carbonic acid gas in twenty-four hours, equal to 
125 cubic inches common air. 

A man annually contributes to vegetation 124 pounds of carbon. 

The average of the pulse in infancy is 120 per minute; in manhood, 80; 
at 60 years, 60. The pulse of females is more frequent than that of males. 

Remai’kable Works of Human Labor.—Nineveh was fourteen 
miles long, eight miles wide, and forty-six miles round, with a wall one 
hundred feet high and thick enough for three chariots abreast. Babylon 
was fifty miles within the walls, which were seventy-five feet thick and one 
hundred feet high, with one hundred brazen gates. The temple of Diana, 
at Ephesus, was four hundred and twenty feet to the support of the roof. It 
was one hundred years in building. The largest of the pyramids was four 
hundred and eighty-one feet in height, and eight hundred and fifty-three 
feet on the sides. The base covers eleven acres. The stones are about 
sixty feet in length and the layers are two hundred and eight. It employed 
320,000 men in building the labyrinth in Egypt, and it contains three hun¬ 
dred chambers and twelve hall3. Thebes, in Egypt, presents ruins twenty- 
seven miles round, and contained 350,000 citizens and 400,000 slaves. The 
Temple of Delphos was so rich in donation that it was plundred of $50,000,- 
000, and the Emperor Nero carried away from it two hundred statues. The 
walls of Rome were thirteen miles around. 

Atlantic Cables.—Eleven Atlantic cables in all have been successfully 
laid, and the first two are dead or lost. Of the nine cables, only four are in 
really good order, the other five being old and having little chance of con¬ 
tinued life. The average life of a cable is only ten years. One of the nine 
was laid in 1869, another in 1873, a third in 1874, a fourth is the cable of 
1866, repaired in 1880, while a fifth was laid in 1875. The more recent are 
the French (Pouyer Quertier) cable of 1879, the two new Gould and the 
Bennett and Mackey cables. 

The oldest company, the Anglo-American, is the owner of the four oldest 
cables, including the patched one of 1880. Three of these it laid, while the 
cable of 1869 was laid by the French company, and came to the Anglo- 
American when it absorbed that company. These four old cables are rep¬ 
resented by a capital of $12,582,550, preferred 6 per cent, shares, a like 
amount of deferred shares, and $9,834,900 of ordinary shares—in all, $35,- 
000,000. Their total length is 12,319 miles, and the capital is, therefore, 
$2,765 per mile. 

Largest of Their Kind.—I. The largest ocean in the world is the 
Pacific. 2. The largest sea is the Mediterranean. 3. River, the Amazon. 
4. Gulf, Mexico. 5. Cape, Horn. 6. Lake, Superior. 7. Bay, Bengal. 8. 
Island, Australia. 9. City, London. 10. Public building, St. Peter’s, Rome. 
11. Hotel, Palace, San Francisco. 15. Steamer, Great Eastern. 13. Desert, 
Sahara. 14. Theatre, Grand Opera House, Paris. 15. State, Texas. ic! 
Territory, Dakota. 17. Park, the Phoenix Park, Dublin. 18. Highest 
mountain, Kunchainyunga, Himalayas. 19. Sound, Long Island. 20. 
Largest Railroad, Union Pacific and Central Pacific. 21. Canal, Grand 
Canal, China. 22. Suspension Bridge, Brooklyn. 23. Largest railroad de¬ 
pot, St. Pancras, London. 24. Largest room in the world under single 
roof, military one, St. Petersburg. 15. Strongest fort, Gibraltar. 26. Long¬ 
est ship, the Romsdal. 27. Sailing ship of greatest tonnage, the Three 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 511 

Brothers. 28. Largest Monument, Washington. 29. Largest statue, Bar¬ 
tholdi. 

Marvels of the Microscope.—Leuwenhoeck tells us of animated 
insects seen with the microscope, of which twenty-seven millions would 
only be equal to a mite. Insects of various kinds are observable in the 
cavities of a common grain of sand. Mould is a forest of beautiful trees, 
with the branches, leaves, flowers and fruit fully discernible. Butterflies 
are fully feathered. Hairs are hollow tubes. The surface of our bodies is 
covered with scales like a fish; a single grain of sand would cover 150 of 
these scales; and a single scale covers 500 pores; yet through these narrow 
openings the sweat exudes like water through a sieve; how minute, then, 
must be its particles! The mite makes five hundred steps in a second. Each 
drop of stagnant water contains a world of animated beings, swimming with 
as much liberty as whales in the sea. Each leaf has a colony of insects 
grazing on it like oxen in a meadow. 

Measurements of the Great Lakes.—The following measure¬ 
ments of the great lakes have been taken by Government surveyors: The 
greatest length of Lake Superior is 335 miles; its greatest breadth is 160 
miles; mean depth, 688 feet; elevation, 827 feet; area, 82,000 square miles. 
The greatest length- of Lake Michigan is 300 miles; its greatest breadth, 
108; mean depth, 690 feet; elevation, 506 feet; area, 23,000 miles. The 
greatest length of Lake Huron is 300 miles; its greatest breadth is 60 miles; 
mean depth, 600 feet; elevation, 274 feet, area, 20,000 square miles. The 
greatest length of Lake Erie is 250 miles; its greatest breadth is 80 miles; its 
mean depth is 84 feet; elevation, 261 feet; area, 6,000 square miles. The 
greatest length of Lake Ontario is 180 miles; its greatest breadth is 65 
miles; its mean depth is 500 feet; elevation, 261 feet; area, 6,000 square 
miles. The total of all five is 1,265 miles, covering an area of upward of 
135,000 square miles. 

Wedding Anniversaries.—Many are interested in marriage anni¬ 
versaries, and so we give their definitions: First anniversary, iron; fifth 
anniversary, wooden; tenth anniversary, tin; fifteenth anniversary, crystal; 
twentieth anniversary, china; twenty-fifth anniversary, silver; thirtieth an¬ 
niversary, cotton; thirty-fifth anniversary, linen; fortieth anniversary, 
woolen; forty-fifth anniversary, silk; fiftieth anniversary, golden; seventy- 
fifth anniversary, diamond. 

Nature’s Barometers.—Certain movements on the part of the ani¬ 
mal creation, before a change of weather, appear to indicate a reasoning 
faculty. Sueh seems to be the case with the common garden spider, which, 
on the approach of rainy or windy weather, will be found to shorten and 
strengthen the guys of his web, lengthening the same when the storm is 
over. There is a popular superstition that it is unlucky for an angler to 
meet a single magpie; but tw'o of the birds together are a good omen. The 
reason is that the birds foretell th* coming of cold or stormy weather; and 
then, instead of their seaching for food for their young in pairs, one always 
remains on the nest. Sea gulls predict storms by assembling on the land, 
as they know that the rain will bring earthworms and larva) to the surface. 
This, however, is merely a search for food, and is due to the same iustiuct 
which teaches the swallow to fly high in fine -weather, and skim along the 
ground when foul is coming. They simply follow tho flies and gnats which 


512 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE, 


remain in the warm strata of the air. The different tribes of wading birds 
always migrate before rain, likewise to hunt for food. Many birds foretell 
rain by warning cries and uneasy actions, and swine will carry hay and 
straw to hiding places, oxen will lick themselves the wrong way of the hair, 
sheep will bleat and skip about, hogs turned out in the woods will como 
grunting and squealing, colts will rub their backs against the ground, 
crows will gather in crowds, crickets will sing more loudly, flies come into 
the house, frogs croak and change color to a dingier hue, dogs eat grass, 
and rooks soar like hawks. It is probable that many of these actions are 
due to actual uneasiness, similar to that which all who are troubled with 
corns or rheumatism experience before a storm, and are caused both by the 
variation in barometic pressure and the changes in the electrical condition 
of the atmosphere. 

Facts Regarding the City of London.—London (with all its 
suburbs) covers within the fifteen miles radius of Charing Cross nearly 700 
square miles. It numbers within these boundaries over 4,000,000 inhabi¬ 
tants. It contains more country-born inhabitants than the counties of 
Devon and Gloucester combined, or thirty-seven per cent, of its entire 
population. Every four minutes a birth takes place in the metropolis, and 
every six minutes a death. Within the circle named there are added to the 
population 205 persons every day, and 75,000 annually. London has 7,000 
miles of streets, and on an average twenty-eight miles of new streets are 
opened and 9,000 new houses built every year; 1,000 vessels and 9,000 
sailors are in port every day. Its crime is also in proportion to its extent. 
Seventy-three thousand persons are annually taken into custody by the po¬ 
lice, and more than one-third of all the crime in the country is committed 
within its borders. Thirty-eight thousand persons are annually committed 
for drunkenness by its magistrates. The metropolis comprises consider¬ 
ably upward of 100,000 foreigners from every quarter of the globe. It con¬ 
tains more Homan Catholics than Rome itself, more Jews than the whole of 
Palestine, more Irish than Belfast, more Scotchmen than Aberdeen, and 
more Welshmen than Cardiff. Its beershops and gin-palaces are so num¬ 
erous that their frontages, if placed side by side, would stretch a distance 
of sixty-two miles. If all the dwellings in London could thus have their 
frontages placed side by side they would extend beyond the city of York, a 
distance of 172 miles. London has sufficient paupers to occupy every house 
in Brighton. The society which advocates the cessation of Sunday labor 
will be astonished to learn that sixty miles of shops are open every Sunday. 
With regard to churches and chapels, the Bishop of London, examined be¬ 
fore a committee of the House of Lords in the year 1840, said: “ If you pro¬ 
ceed a mile or two eastwards of St. Paul’s, you will find yourself in the 
midst of a population the most wretched and destitute of mankind, consist¬ 
ing of artificers, laborers, beggars, and thieves, to the amount of 300,000 or 
400,000 souls. Throughout this entire quarter there is not more than one 
church for every 10,000 inhabitants, and in two districts, there is but one 
church for 45,000 souls.” 

About Crems.—The finest emeralds come from Peru, and other parts 
of South America, though they are sometimes brought from the East. They 
are of a beautiful clear green color, some very dark, others paler, and are 
much valued and used for ornamental jewelry. The Queen of Spain’s 
emeralds were among the most beautiful jewels shown at th® Great Lon- 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 513 

don Exhibition. Rubies are very striking gems, being, when of the finest 
sort, of a beautiful dark-red color, and very clear; they are not, however, 
often of large size, and are not so hard as many other gems—the emerald 
for instance. There is an inferior kind, of a pale-rose color, which are 
brought from Balachan, in Turkey. 

The sapphire is generally called a blue gem, and that is the color in¬ 
tended when people talk of a “ sapphire hue,” but it varies so much in 
color that there are sapphires which resemble, and as it were, counterfeit 
other gems; these are called oriental emeralds, topazes, or whatever other 
stone they resemble. The red sapphire, or oriental ruby, is one of the 
most valuable gems, coming next after the diamond. Some sapphires pre¬ 
sent when polished a beautiful effect, from a six-rayed star of light gleam¬ 
ing in their center. This is the effect of the six-sided form of the crystal. 

A carbuncle is a gem of a beautiful deep-red color, with a mixture of 
scarlet, found in the East Indies. It is usually found pure, of an angular 
figure; its usual size is nearly a quarter of an inch in length, and two-thirds 
of that in diameter. When held up to the sun it loses its deep tinge, and 
becomes exactly of the color of a burning coal. 

The opal is only partially clear, and its great beauty consists in the play 
of colors from its interior; yellow, red, and green, the most exquisite tints, 
flash and gleam from it as it is moved about. The finest opals are as valuable 
as diamonds; they are brought from Turkey, and sometimes from Hungary, 
but it is seldom that any are found of large size. 

The amethyst is a clear, hard stone of a beautiful violet color by day¬ 
light, but looking brown by candlelight; it is nearly related to the quartz 
rock-crystal, which is used for making spectacle glasses, and sometimes for 
false diamonds. We get the finest amethysts from Ceylon, the Brazils, and 
the southern part of Spain. The turquoise is an opaque stone of a blue 
color; it is very soft in comparison with most gems, and is therefore often 
used for engraving upon; it is very easily imitated, and, consequently, a 
large proportion of cheap jewelry pretends to be adorned with turquoises. 

The topaz is of a bright golden yellow; the garnet, of a good deep red; 
the latter is not very valuable, though very pretty. In some places small 
garnets are crushed to use instead of emery; and in Germany, where gar¬ 
nets are very abundant, they are sometimes used as a flux for iron ore. 
The topaz is found in several parts of the East Indies, in Ethopia, Arabia, 
Peru, and Bohemia; the oriental are the most-esteemed. They can easily 
be imitated. 

The Jewels in European Crowns.—The crown of England is be¬ 
lieved to be the finest piece of regalia in the world. The lower part of the 
band is a row of 129 pearls, the upper part of 112; between them, in front, 
is a large sapphire; behind is a smaller sapphire, with six others and eight 
emeralds. Between the two great sapphires are ornaments containing 286 
diamonds. About the band are eight sapphires, surmounted by eight dia¬ 
monds and eight festoons, containing 160 diamonds. In the front of the 
crown is the ruby given to the Black Prince by Pedro, King of Castile. This 
is set in a Maltese cross, and forming the cross are seventy-five large dia¬ 
monds. Three other crosses are round the upper part of the crown, con¬ 
taining altogether 386 diamonds. Between the four crosses are four orna¬ 
ments with four rubies in their centers, and containing respectively eighty- 
four, eighty-six, eighty-five and eighty-seven diamonds. From the Maltese 
crosses rise four arches composed of oak leaves and acorns, the leaves con- 


514 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

taining 728 diamonds. The thirty-two acorns are each of a single pearl, and 
are set in cups made of fifty-four diamonds. Above the arches stands the 
mound, containing 548 diamonds, and above the mound is the cross, con¬ 
taining a very large sappnire, four very large and 108 smaller diamonds. 
The value of the whole is variously estimated, but is commonly believed to 
be about $1,500,000. 

The jewels of the crown of the King of Portugal are valued at 35,000,000 
francs, and his diamonds weigh over 5,000 oarats, their value being esti¬ 
mated at more than £2,000,000. Among them is a diamond reported to 
weigh 1,080 carats, which, if genuine, is the largest stone of the kind in the 
world. It is, however, suspected be a white topaz, and the King will not 
allow a critical examination to be made of it. 

At the coronation of the present Czar and Czarina, two crowns were 
made for the occasion, together with a necklace, and the Empress’s crown 
is thought to present to view the most beautiful collection of diamonds ever 
gathered in a single ornament. It is uncertain whether Russia or Persia 
possesses the finest collection of crown diamonds in the world, but the 
honor belongs to one of the two. 

One of the finest collections of crown jewels in the world is possessed by 
the most hopelessly broken down potentate, the Sultan of Turkey. Every 
Sultan from the earliest times has made a point of collecting jewels.and 
selling none, and thus, through the course of ages, the collection has be¬ 
come enormous. The jewel-rooms of the Turkish Sultan resemble nothing 
so much as the descriptions in the “ Arabian Nights.” 

Depth of the Atlantic Ocean.—The main theatre of sounding opera¬ 
tions has been the Atlantic Ocean, which from its relation to the leading 
commercial nations, and for intercontinental telegraph purposes, has been 
more carefully surveyed than any other great body of water. Open from 
pole to pole, participating in all conditions of climate, communicating freely 
with other seas, and covering 30,000,000 square miles, it is believed to re¬ 
present general oceanic conditions, and to contain depths nearly, if not 
quite, as great as the other ocean basins of the world, although but little is 
known, it is true, in this respect of the Indian, Antarctic, and Pacific seas. 
The general result of its soundings would indicate that the average depth 
of the Atlantic bed is not much more than 12,000 feet, and that there seem 
to be few depressions deeper than 15,000 or 20,000 feet, a little more than 
the height of Mont Blanc. Doctor Thompson sums up the general results 
of the Atlantic soundings as follows: “In the Arctic sea there is deep water 
reaching to 9,000 feet to the west and southwest of Spitzbergen. Extending 
from the coast of Norway, and including Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shet¬ 
land and Orkney, Great Britain and Ireland, and the bed of the North sea 
to the coast of France, there is a wide plateau, on which the depth rarely 
reaches 3,000 feet; but to the west of Iceland, and communicating, doubt¬ 
less, with the deep water in Spitzbergen sea, a trough 500 miles wide, and 
in some places, nearly 12,000 feet deep, curves along the coast of Green¬ 
land. This is the path of one of the great Arctic currents. After sloping 
gradually to a depth of 3,000 leet to the westward of the coast of Ireland, in 
latitude 50 degrees, the bottom suddenly dips to 10,000 feet at the rate of 
about fifteen to nineteen feet in 100; and from this point to within about 200 
miles of the coast of Newfoundland, when it begins to shoal again, there is 
a vast undulating submarine plain, averaging 12,000 feet in depth below the 
surface the ‘ telegraph plateau.’ A Yalley about 500 miles, and with a 


S TA TIS TIVAL A Nl) MIS CEL L A NE0 US. 


515 


mean depth of 15,000 feet, stretches from off the southwest coast of Ireland, 
along the coast of Europe, dipping into the Bay of Biscay, past the Strait of 
Gibraltar, and along the west coast of Africa. Opposite the Cape de Yerde 
Islands it seems to merge into a slightly deeper trough, which occupies the 
axis of the South Atlantic, and passes into the Antarctic sea. A nearly 
similar valley curves around the coast of North America, about 12,000 feet 
in depth, off Newfoundland and Labrador, and becoming considerably 
deeper to the southward, where it follows the outline of the coast of the 
States and the Bahamas and Windward Islands, and finally joins the cen¬ 
tral trough of the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil, with a depth of 
15,000 feet. 

Consumption of Timber.—To make shoe pegs enough for American 
use consumes annually 100,000 cords of timber, and to make lucifer matches, 
300,000 cubic feet of the best pine are required every year. Lasts and boot- 
trees take 500,000 cords of birch, beech, and maple, and the handles of tools 
500,000 more. The baking of bricks consumes 2,000,000 cords of wood, or 
what would cover with forest about 50,000 acres of land. Telegraph poles 
already up represent 800,000 trees, and their annual repairs consume 300,- 
000 more. The ties of railroads constime annually thirty years’ growth of 
75,000 acres, and to fence all the railroads in the United States would cost 
$45,000,000 with a yearly expenditure of $15,000,000 for repairs. These are 
some of the ways which American forests are going. There are others; 
packing-boxes, for instance, cost in 1874 $12,000,000, while the timber used 
each year in making wagons and agricultural implements is valued at more 
than $100,000,000. 

Interesting Pacts.—The Atlantic Ocean includes an area of 30,000,- 
000 square miles. Suppose an inch of rain to fall upon only one-fifth of 
this vast expanse, it would weigh 360,000,000 tons, and the salt which, as 
water, is held in solution in the sea, and which, when the water was taken 
up as a vapor, was left behind to disturb the equilibrium, weighed 16,000,- 
000 more tons, or nearly twice as much as all the ships in the world could 
carry at a cargo each. It might fall in a day; but occupy what time it 
might in falling, this rain is calculated to exert so much force—which is in¬ 
conceivably great—in disturbing the equilibrium of the ocean. If all the 
water discharged by the Mississippi River during the year were taken up 
in mighty measure, and cast into the ocean at an effort, it would not make 
a greater disturbance in the equilibrium of the sea than the fall of rain 
supposed. And yet so gentle are the operations of nature that movements 
so vast are unperceived. 

How Caves Are Formed.—It becomes an interesting question to 
find out how this subterranean system was made; for in so many cases 
valley passes into ravine, and that into a cave, that the cause which has 
formed one must have formed all. It requires but a cursory glance to see 
at once that running water was the main agent. The limestone is so trav¬ 
ersed by joints and lines of shrinkage, that the water sinks rapidly down 
into its mass, and collects in small streams, which owe their direction to 
the dip of the water and the position of the fissures. These channels are 
being continually deepened and widened by the mere mechanical action of 
the passage of stones and silt. But this is not the only way in which the 
rock is gradually eroded. The limestone is composed in great part of pure 
carbonate of lime, which is insoluble in water. It is, however, readily dis- 


516 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


solved in any liquid containing carbonic acid, which is an essential, part of 
our atmosphere, and is invariably present in the rain-water, and is given 
off by organic bodies. By this invisible agent, the hard crystalline rock is 
always being attacked in some form or other. The very snails that take 
refuge in its crannies leave an enduring mark of their presence in a surface 
fretted with their acid exhalations, which very often pass current among 
geologists for the borings of pholades, and are the innocent cause of 
much speculation as to the depression of the mountain-tops beneath the 
sea in comparatively modern times. The carbonic acid taken up by the 
rain is derived in the main from the decomposing vegetable matter which 
generally forms the surface soil on limestone. Its effects are to be seen in 
a most marked degree in the bare, gray masses of rock termed “ pave¬ 
ments,” that stand out like roches moutonnees from the purple heather, and 
are worn and fissured into the strangest possible shapes. Sometimes the 
surface is made up of a number of sharp points that look like a sheaf of 
sword-blades; at others, there are ravines and caves in miniature; and very 
generally the strata are divided into a series of large angular blocks, which 
work with the greatest freedom. The minute fossil shells and fragments of 
crinoids standing out in bold relief testify that the agent which removed so 
much rock is chemical, not mechanical. The invisible agent is equally at 
work in the caves as well as above ground, everywhere attacking the sur¬ 
face, even out of the reach of the streams. The endless varieties of stalac¬ 
tite and stalagmite are merely so much solid matter taken by it out of the 
rock, and re-deposited where the excess of carbonic acid in the water hap¬ 
pens to be taken up by a free current of air. To it, then, as well as to the 
mechanical power of the stream, the formation and enlargement of caves 
must be assigned. 

Floating 1 Islands.—Gippsland is a province of Victoria. It is bounded 
by the Australian Alps on all sides, except on the south, which the sea 
washes for over one hundred miles. It may be called the Piedmont of 
Australia; rich, fertile plains, intersected by rivers flowing into a lake sys¬ 
tem, extending all along the coasts, and separated from the sea by a narrow, 
sandy ridge, with one navigable opening. A local paper, the Gippsland 
Times , gives the following description of “ floating islands ” on the lakes: 

“ As one of the Gippsland Steam Navigation Company’s steamers was 
recently crossing Lake Wellington, the man at the wheel suddenly observed 
land right in the track of the steamer, apparently only a short distance from 
the straits separating Lakes Wellington and Victoria. He called the cap¬ 
tain’s attention to the strange sight, and, on coming close, the land was dis¬ 
covered to be a small island, about thirty yards in length by twenty broad. 
It was covered by a rich coating of luxuriant grass; and small trees, tea- 
trees, and bush-shrubs, appeared to be growing in profusion. The only 
occupants of this remarkable apparition were a few pigs, feeding away con¬ 
tentedly, and apparently enjoying their novel journey by water. A second 
island of the same description, but much smaller, was noticed a little 
farther on, but this had evidently detached itself from the larger piece of 
land, or, most probably, had been separated by the rooting depredations 
of the porkers. 

“ From what portion of the mainland this floating island came is, of 
course, a matter of conjecture, but it is known that a portion of the soil at 
Marley Point, on the southern shore of Lake Wellington, became detached 
recently, and floated miles across the lake, with some twenty or thirty head 


517 


STATISTICAL AND MlSOELIAlfEOVS. 

of pigs aboard. As long as the wind drove in that direction, the island 
drifted toward M’Lennard’s Straits, but a change of wind brought it back 
again, after a three days’ trip, within a mile of the spot from which it had 
broken away. We believe it is the opinion of the district surveyor that the 
area of the Roseneatli run, West of Lake Wellington, has been increased 
some twenty or thirty acres by the addition ot drift islands.” 

Business Vocabulary.— Acceptance. —A draft drawn on a party and 
by him indorsed on the face with his agreement to pay it when due. 
Account. —A statement of indebtedness, etc. 

Acquittance. —A discharge in full. 

Ad valorem.— In proportion to value. 

Annul. —To cancel. 

Assets. —Funds or effects. 

Assignment. —A transfer of property on certain conditions for stated 
purposes. 

Assignee. —A person to whom anything is assigned. 

Assignor. —The person who assigns. 

Balance.— Difference between two statements or accounts. 

Bankrupt. —A person unable to pay his debts, 
j Bill of Exchange.—An order for money to be paid. 

Bill of Sale.—A contract signed and sealed for the sale of personal property. 
Bills Payable.— Name given to notes made and to be paid by a party. 

Bills Beceivable. —Notes made and to be paid to a party. 

Bond. —An instrument or deed providing a money security. 

Capital. —The amount of assets on which a business is carried on. 

Check .—An order on a bank for the payment of money. 

Capitation .—A tax on every male who is of age. 

Commission. —The amount or proportion charged by an agent in a business 
transaction. 

Company .—An association for transacting business. 

Consideration.— The sum of money or thing for which a transaction is made. 
Consign. —To send goods, etc., to a party. 

Consignee.— One to whom goods are consigned. 

Consignor.— One who consigns goods. 

Contract.—A bargain or agreement. 

Conveyance.—A document transferring property. 

Bays of Grace .—Three days legally allowed beyond the date for payment. 
Bebit .—To make debtor in an account or books. 

Befault .—Failure to pay. 

Biscount.—A sum taken from a bill or note. 

Bividend.— Interest on stock investments, etc. 

Brafl.— An order for the payment of a certain sum. 

Brawei'.— One who draws a draft, etc. 

Brawee .—The person on whom the draft is drawn. 

Effects .—Property of every description. 

Entry .—A record made in books of account. 

Executor .—One appointed to carry out the provisions of a will. 

Exhibit .—A writing or official statement. 

Face .—The sum named in a note, etc. 

Jtailure.—A bankruptcy. 

Firm.— The style or name of a company under which it transacts busi¬ 
ness. 


518 CYCLOP JED 1A OP USEFUL KNOW LED G E. 


Fai'eclose .—To deprive a mortgagor by legal process of his right of 
redemption. 

Goods .—A term applied generally to merchandise, etc. 

Gross. —Entire, as gross receipts. Twelve dozen. 

Guarantee .—A security. 

Honor .—To accept and pay a note, draft, etc. 

Hypothecate .—To make a security of. 

Indorsement .—A signature on the back of a bill, note, etc. 

Insolvent .—Unable to pay all debts. 

Interest .—A certain proportion of a sum as profit; a share. 

Inventory .—A catalogue, or list. 

Joint Stock .—Stock held by more than one person, or in company. 

Judgment .—Decree of court to pay in a suit. 

Lease .—A usually written contract for hiring of land or buildings. 

Legal Tender .—Money decreed by the Government to be legal and a proper 
means of payment. 

Letter of Credit .—A letter giving a certain credit to a person named therein. 
Letters Patent .—A written instrument granting certain rights and powers. 
Letters of Administration .—The instrument granting authority to adminis¬ 
trators. 

Lien .—A valid claim by reason of some debt. 

Liquidation .—The settling and adjustment ot accounts. 

Maturity .—The time when a payment is due. 

Mortgage .—A conditional conveyance of property giving a right of 
redemption. 

Mortgagor .—One giving such a conveyance. 

Mortgagee.—One to whom such a conveyance is given. 

Net .—The amount remaining after making all deductions. 

Partnership .—An association of two or more persons for the transaction of 
business. 

Par Value .—The face value. 

Payee .—The person to whom a payment is due. 

Protest .—A notary’s official notice of non-payment of a note, draft or check. 
Rebate .—A reduction in consideration of prompt payment. 

Receipt .—A written acknowledgment ol payment. 

Salvage .—Compensation for assistance in saving a vessel. 

Schedule .—An inventory. 

Set-off .—A claim off-setting a debt. 

Sight .—The time when a draft is presented. 

Suspend .—To stop payment. 

Silent Partner.—One who furnishes capital but whose name does not appear 
in a firm. 

Sterling .— 1 The British standard of coinage. 

Scrip .—A certificate of joint stock. 

Staple .—A standard commodity or production. 

Teller .—A bank official who pays out and receives money. 

Transfer .—A conveyance of right, property or title. 

Voucher.—A. document proving a receipt or other tact. 

Nautical Vocabulary.— Abaft .—Toward the stern. 

About .—To take the opposite tack. 

Anchor .—The heavy piece of iron which holds the ship at rest. 

Alee .—On the side away from the wind, 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS 


519 ' 


Astern .—In the direction of the stern. 

Athwart .—In a line across the ship. 

Beating .—Sailing against the wind by tacking. 

Bow .—The front of a vessel. 

Bend .—To fasten; as, to bend on a rope. 

Berth .—A ship’s anchorage, or a narrow shelf for sleeping on. 

Block .—A pulley. 

Bolt Dope .—The rope surrounding the sail to which it is sewed. 

Brace .—A rope attached to a boom or yard by which they are moved. 

Boom .—The spar at the bottom of a sail by which it is extended. 

Bulkhead .—A partition within the hull. 

Bulwarks .—The sides of a vessel surrounding and extending above the 
deck. 

Cable .—A strong rope or chain. 

Caboose .—A kitchen on deck. 

Camel .—An arrangement for assisting a ship over shoals. 

Carry Away .—To break or lose a rope or spar. 

Cat Block .—The tackle block for hoisting the anchor. 

Cat's Paw.—A light puff of wind. 

Caulk .—To make tight the seams of a vessel. 

Clew .—To bind up. 

Clew Lines .—Hopes for clewing. 

Combings .—The raised edges around the hatches. 

Cock Pit .—A room for wounded men in a war vessel. 

Companionway .—The cabin stairway. 

Compass .—An instrument showing the vessel’s course. 

Coxswain .—The steerer of a small boat. 

Deadlight.—An iron shutter covering a port hole. 

Dead Reckoning .—The keeping the course of a vessel with the use of log 
line and compass. 

Beck .—The covering or floor to a ship. 

Draught—The depth of water required to float a vessel. 

Fathom .—Six feet. 

Fender. _Apiece of wood or other material to prevent the contact of two 

vessels 

Footrope.—A rope extending along and under a yard on which the seamen 
stand. 

Fore and Aft .—From bow to stern. 

Forecastle .—That part forward of the foremast. 

Foremast .—The mast nearest the bow. 

Forge .—To move slowly ahead. 

Founder.—To sink. 

Furl .—To roll up. 

Gaff .—The upper spar holding up a fore and aft sail. 

GaUey — The kitchen. 

Gangway .—An entrance to a ship. 

Grapnel .—A small anchor. 

Halyards .—Ropes for hoisting sails. 

Hatch , or Hatchway .—An opening in the deck. 

Heave to .—To stop by bringing a ship’s how to the wind. 

Hold .—The interior of a vessel. J 1 

Hull .—The body only of a vessel. 7 

Jaw x ~The mast end of a boom or gaff. 


520 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Jib.—A triangular sail at a ship’s bow. 

Jibe .—To shift a sail from one side to the other. 

Jurymast .—A temporary mast. 

Keel .—The lowest timber in a ship. 

Knot .—A nautical mile. 

Launch .—To let a ship slide into the water. 

Lead .—A mass of lead used in sounding. 

Lee .—Away from the wind. 

Leeway .—The lee motion or space of water. 

Locker .—A chest or box. 

Log or Logline .—A rope used for measuring the speed of a vessel. 

Log or Logbook .—The ship's record or diary. 

Luff .—To bring a ship nearer to the wind. 

Manrope .—A rope used in going up or down the ship’s side. 

Mast .—An upright piece of timber set in a ship for supporting sails, rig¬ 
ging, etc. 

Masthead .—The head or top of a mast. 

Mess .—A number of men eating together. 

Midships .—The middle, or widest part of a ship. 

Mizzenmast; Mizzensad .—The hindmost when there are three. 

Moor .—To secure a ship in any position. 

Nip .—A short turn, as in a rope. 

Painter .—A rope used to secure a boat to anything. 

Pay Out .—To slacken or give out, as to pay out a rope. 

Peak .—The upper and outer corner of a boom sail. 

Pintle .—The bolt on which a rudder is hung. 

Port. The left hand of a ship looking towards the bow; same as larboard. 
Port or Port Hole .—An opening in a ship’s side to admit light and air. 
Quarter .—The stern portion of a ship’s side. 

Hake .—The inclination of a mast. 

Peef. A portion of the sail which is clewed up when the wind is too high to 
expose the whole. 

Reef.—To take up such a portion. 

Reeve .—To pass the end of a rope through a pulley, etc. 

Rigging. -A term applied generally to a vessel’s ropes, etc. 

Road .—An open space of water where ships may anchor. 

Rowlock .—Arrangement for giving purchase to an oar in rowing. 

Rudder .—^The contrivance which steers a vessel. 

Scud .—To sail before a heavy wind or gale. 

M. -The sheet ot canvas which is exposed to the wind and gives motion to 
the vessel. 


Seams .—Where the ship’s planks join. 

Sheet.—A rope for controlling and moving a sail. 

Shore.—A prop under a beam. 

Skipper .-The name given generally to the master of a small vessel. 
Sloop.—A vessel with but one mast. 

Sound .—To ascertain the depth of the water. 

Spar.—A name applied to a mast, boom, gaff, yard, etc. 

Stern .—The rear portion of a vessel. 

Starboard .—The right hand of a ship looking toward the bow 
Stay.—A rope supporting or keeping in place a mast. 

Tack. To go against the wind in a zig-zag course, and to change a ship’ 
course by shifting her rudder and sails, P 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


521 


Taut .—Tight. 

Thwarts.—A boat’s seats. 

Titter .—A bar for moving a rudder. 

Trick .—A sailor’s duration of time in steering. 

Warp. —To move a vessel by a line fastened at the end to an anchor. 

Watch. —A certain portion of time for duty. 

Wake.— The track left in the water by a moving vessel. 

Weather. —Toward the wind. 

Weigh Anchor.- To raise the anchor. 

Waist .—That portion of the deck between the quarter-deck and forecastle. 
Windlass. —A machine for raising the anchor or cargo. 

Windward. —The point from whence the wind blows. 

Yacht.—A sailing vessel used for pleasure. 

Yard. —A spar supporting and extending a sail. 

Yardarm.— Either half of a yard. 

Yaw. —A movement causing a temporary change of course. 

Dictionary of Musical Terms.— Accompaniment .—A secondary part 
added to the principal for the improvement of the general effect. 
Adagio.—A slow movement. 

Ad libitum.— Implies that the time of the movement is left to the discretion 
of the performer. 

Allegretto .—With cheerful quickness. 

Andante.—Somewhat sedate; slowly. 

Animato, Animaso, or Con Anima. —Animated: with spirit. 

Assai.—Yery; used as an adverb with another word. 

A temp.— In regular time. 

Beat .—An indication of a certain duration of time. 

Ben. —Implying well, as Ben marcato. 

Calando .—A gradual diminution in speed and tone. 

Chromatic. —Proceeding or formed by semi-tones. 

(j on , —With; as Con expressione. 

Crescendo.—A gradual increase in tone. 

Da. —By. Ddicato. —With delicacy. 

Dales or Dal. —In a soft, quiet manner. 

Doloroso. —In a melancholy, sad style. 

Espressivo or Con esepressione. —With expression. 

Fine.— the end. Fork, or For. —Strong, loud. 

Furioso. —With great animation. Oiusio. —In perfect time. 

Crave .—The slowest time or movement. 

Gusto, Con gusto.— With style; taste. 11— The. 

Impetuoso .—Impetuously. In.— In; as In tempo. 

Intrado, or Introduzione.— An introduction to a piece of music. 

Largo.—A slow and solemn degree of time. 

Legato.— In a smooth, even manner. Leggiando. —Lightly. 

Marcato.— In a marked manner. Meme.— The same. 

Mezzo. —In a medium degree; as Mezzo forte. 

Modet'ato .—Moderately. Motto.— Very; as Malto forte. 

Movimento. —Movement; time. Nobile.— Grandly; impressively. 
Obligato.— An essential portion of a composition. 

Oltava or 8 va. An octave. 

Peddle, or Ped.— Signifies that performer must press down pedal. 

Pen.— A little. Piano, or P. Soft. 


522 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLE DGE. 


Pianissimo, or PP .—Very soft. Plus. —More. 

Poco a poco. —Gradually; by a regular gradation. 

pomposo. —Pompously. Precipitate.—Very quickly; hurriedly. 

Premiere. —First; as Premiere fois; first time. 

Presto .—Very quick. Primo .—As Yiolino primo, first violin. 

Quasi.— In the manner of; like. Quieto .—With repose, quietly. 
Rapido.—R&pidly.—Rinforzando.—Rinf. or Rf. with increase. 

Hitenente, Ritenato .—Decreasing in speed. 

Segno— Sign, as al segno, go back to sign. 

Sempre. —Always, as Sempre piane. Serioso.— Seriously. 

Solo, Sola— Alone. A composition rendered by one person. 

Sostenuto or Sost.— Prolonged, sustained. 

Spirito .—With spirit. 

Staccato .—Each note to be distinctly marked. 

Stesso .—The same. 

Syncopation. —Connecting the last note of a bar with the first note of the 
following, thus forming one prolonged note with a duration equal to 
the two. 

Syncopate .—In a syncopated style. Tanto or Ton .—Not so much. 

Tardo. —Slowly. Tempo Comodo. —Conveniently. 

Iheme .—A subject. Tranquitto, —Tranquilly. 

Tremendi .—With terrific expression. 

Tremando, Ti'emolo .—The rapid striking of a note so as to produce a 
tremulous effect. 

Tt'iUe or TriUo .—A trill or shake. 

Trio .—A composition for three performers. 

Triplet.—A. group of three notes equal in duration of time to two notes of 
the same value. 

Un A .—As un poco, a little. 

Veloce. —Rapidly. 

Vdocissimo .—With great rapidity. 

Vigoroso .—With vigor. 

Vivace. —Vivamented; briskly. 

Volti Subito .—Turn over quickly. 

Dreams.-Macknish describes dreams to be “ the resuscitation or re¬ 
embodiment of thoughts which have formerly, in some shape or other 
occupied the mind. They are old ideas revived, either in an entire state’ 
or heterogeneously mingled together. I doubt if it be possible ” he 
continues, " for a person to have in a dream any idea whose elements did 
not, in some form, strike him at a previous period. If these break loose 
from their connecting chains, and become jumbled together incoherently, 
as is often the case, they give rise to absurd combinations; but the elements 
still subsist, and only manifest themselves in a new and connected shape.” 

Tertullian describes dreaming as the refreshment of the soul. He re¬ 
jects the doctrine of Epicurus in which dreams are disparaged as idle and 
fortuitous, maintaining that they are agreeable to the course and order of 
nature. Yain, frivolous, impure and turbulent dreams he attributes to 
demons, while those that are pure and pleasant proceed from God or his 
angels. Lactantius expresses his conviction of divine agency of dreams. 
St. Cyprian states that he was divinely instructed in a dream to mix a little 
water with the wine for the Holy Eucharist. St. Bernard was a firm believer 
in dreams, which he treats of at great length in his remarkable sermon “ On 


S TA TIS TIC A L A ND MIS CEL LANEO US. 


523 


Sleep.” St. Thomas Aquinas affirms faith in dreams, but maintained that 
only those which are suggested by angels may be investigated and inter¬ 
preted, those inspired by demons and evil spirits being left alone. 

A recent author expresses a strong and fixed faith in the divine inspira¬ 
tion of dreams, and adduces many powerful instances from sacred and pro¬ 
fane history to prove that the will of Omnipotence is often executed through 
the medium of visions. The wonderful examples related by Scriptural 
writers are liberally drawn upon. The case of King Abimelech, warned 
against taking Abraham’s wife (whom he had untruly called his sister), is 
cited as an early instance, as are the warnings and directions given by God 
to Jacob and Laban; also, the dreams and visions of Daniel, and of Joseph, 
both with regard to the Blessed Virgin and the malice ot Herod; the warn¬ 
ing dreams of the three Eastern Kings, and that of Pilate’s wife, all of which 
are familiar to Bible readers. 

Legal Holidays Throughout the United States.— January lsf, 
or New Year’s Day, is a legal holiday in all the States except Arkansas, 
Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Rhode Island and North and South Carolina. 

February 22 d, or Washington’s Birthday , is a legal holiday in all the 
States but Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, 
Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas. 

May 30 th, or Decoration Day , is a legal holiday only in Colorado, Con¬ 
necticut, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Penn¬ 
sylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

January 8th , the Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans; February 
12 th, the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln; and March 4 th, the 
Firemen’s Anniversary, are legal holidays in Louisiana. 

July 4 th, or Independence Day , is a legal holiday in all the States and 
Territories. 

December 25th, Christmas Day, is a legal holiday in all the States and 
Territories. 

Thanksgiving Day and Public Fast Days, appointed by the President of 
the United States, are legal holidays. Such days are legal holidays in such 
States as may set them apart for religious observance by proclamation of 
the Governor. 

Days appointed for general elections, State or National, are legal holi¬ 
days in California, Maine, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South 
Carolina and Wisconsin. 

Good Friday is a legal holiday in Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota and 
Pennsylvania. 

Shrove Tuesday is a legal holiday in Louisiana and in the cities of Mobile, 
Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. 

Memorial Day (Api'il 2 6th) is a legal holiday in Georgia. 

March 2d, the anniversary of the independence of Texas, and April 21 st, 
the anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto, are legal holidays in Texas. 

Freezing Points, Etc., of Various Substances.— Mercury 
freezes at 40° below zero, and melts at 39’. Ether freezes at 47° below 
zero; wine freezes at 20°; sea water freezes at 28.3°. Alcohol has been 
exposed to 110° and 120° below zero without freezing. Granite decomposes 
at a red heat. The second’s pendulum, of 39.139 ins., is lengthened by 30° of 
temperature 128th of an inch, or 8 vibrations in 24 hours, 


524 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


The heat conducting powers of metals, etc., are as follows: Gold, 1,000°; 
platinum, 981°; silver, 973°; copper, 898.2°; iron, 374.3 : ’; zinc, 363°; tin, 
303.9°; lead, 179.6°; marble, 23.6°; porcelain, 12.2°; fine clay, 11.4°. 

1 lb. of coke melts 94 lbs. of ice; 1 lb. of coal, 90 lbs.; 1 lb. of wood, 52 
lbs.; 1 lb. of charcoal, 95 lbs.; 1 lb. of peat, 19 lbs. The capacity of the 
solar heat all over the globe is the ability to melt an icy covering 46 feet in 
thickness. 

Animal Wonders.—In each grain of sand there are marvels; in every 
drop of water a world. In that great spectacle called Nature, every being 
has its marked place and distinct role; and in that great drama called life, 
there presides a law as harmonious as that which rules the movement of 
the stars. Each hour removes by death myriads of existences, and each 
hour produces legions ol‘ new lives. The highest as well as the lowest or¬ 
ganism consumes carbon and water to support life and its duties, and it is 
not uninteresting to glance at the food, the habits, and the ways and means, 
peculiar to some of the inferior animals. From the petrified ejections 
we know what such fossilized reptiles as the plesiosaurus, etc., are, and 
may some day be able to discover the fish and Crustacea they hunted 
down. 

Animals, when not living by their own respectable efforts, are either para¬ 
sites or dependents; many would seem to have positive trades, or are con¬ 
nected with branches of industry. There are miners, masons, carpenters, 
paper manufacturers, and weavers, lace-makers even, all working first for 
themselves, and next to propagate their kind. The miners dig into the 
earth, form natural arches and supports, remove the useless soil; such as 
the mole, the chinchilla of Peru, the badger, the lion ant, as well as certain 
worms and mollusks. The masons build huts and places according to all 
the rules of architecture, as the bees and tropical ants; there are fish that 
construct boats that the waves never can upset, and Agassiz has drawn at¬ 
tention to a fish which builds its nest on the floating sea-weed in the middle 
of the ocean, and deposits therein its eggs. The wasps of South America 
fabricate a sort of paper or pasteboard. Spiders are weavers as well as lace- 
makers; one species constructs a diving-bell, a palace of lace. When the 
astronomer has need of the most delicate thread for his telescope, he ap¬ 
plies to a tiny spider. When the naturalist desires to test his micro¬ 
scope, he selects a certain shell of a sea insect, so small that several mil¬ 
lions of them in water could not be visible to the naked eye, and yet no mi¬ 
croscope has yet been made sufficiently powerful to reveal the beautiful 
variegated designs on the atomic shell. Aristotle remarked, and he has 
since been corroborated, that a variety of plover enters the crocodile’s 
mouth, picks the remnants of food off the animal’s tongue and from between 
its teeth. This living toothpick is necessary, as the tongue of the crocodile 
is not mobile. The Mexican owl, when eojoying a siesta, puts itself under 
the guard of a kind of rat, that gives the alarm on the approach of danger. 
Parasites are everywhere, dependent on no peculiar condition of the body] 
and are as abundant in persons of the most robust as of the most debilitated 
health. They are at home in the muscles, in the heart, in the ventricles of 
the brain, in the ball of the eye. They are generally either in the form of a 
leaf or a ribbon, and are not necessarily, as was once supposed, confined to 
a special animal. The parasites of fish have been detected living in the in¬ 
testines of birds; and there are some that, for the purpose of development 
must pass into the economy of a second animal. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


525 


Ancient Clocks and Watches. —In early times watches were often 
made in the forms of skulls and coffins, suggested, doubtless, by the sol¬ 
emnity of the flight of time. 

A deaths-head watch, which formerly belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, 
and was bequeathed by her to her maid of honor, Mary Setore, on February 
7, 1587, and afterwards came into possession of Sir John Dick Lander, is of 
silver gilt, and is most elaborately ornamented. The forehead of the skull 
bears the symbols of death, the scythe and hour-glass placed between a 
palace and a cottage to show the impartiality of the grim destroyer. At the 
back of the skull is Time destroying all things, and at the top of the head 
are scenes of the Garden of Eden and the crucifixion. The watch is opened 
by reversing the skull, placing the upper part of it in the hollow of the hand 
and lifting the jaw by the hinge, this part being enriched by engraved rep¬ 
resentations of the Holy Trinity, angels, and shepherds ^\ith their flocks. 
The works of the watch form the brains of the skull, and are within a silver 
envelope which acts as a musically-toned bell, while the dial-plate is in the 
place of the palate. This curious work of art, which was made at Blois, is 
too large to be carried as a pocket watch. Another skull watch, which once 
belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, by its inscription and the date, 1560, shows 
that Francis II, of France, presented it to his young wife many years before 
watches were supposed to have been brought to England from Germany. 
Several other of Queen Mary’s watches are described. One in a case of 
crystal, shaped like a coffin, and another made at Rouen, in which a thread 
of cat-gut supplied the place of the chain used in the work of modern 
watches. Early watches were sometimes so small as to be set in the head 
of walking sticks, the clasp of bracelets, in rings, or in pendants, and we 
read of a striking watch mounted in a ring, in the year 1542. At the Straw¬ 
berry Hill sale Queen Victoria purchased a little clock of brass-gilt which 
had been presented to Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII upon their marriage in 
1532, for £110 5s. It is now at Windsor Castle, add in going order. It is 
richly chased and engraved. 

The clock placed in one of the towers at the palace at Hampton Court, 
in 1551, is described as the oldest English made clock extant. When in ac¬ 
tion it showed the motions of several of the planets. The dial and several 
of the wheels attached to the back of the dial still remain. 

A Marvelous Stream.- At a distance of thirty miles south of the 
river Diamante our route passed through a natural object of considerable 
interest—a stream, or rather rill, of yellowish white fluid, like petroleum, 
issuing from the mountain side at a considerable height, and trickling down 
the slope till lost in the porous soil of the valley below. The source from 
which it flowed was at the junction where a hard, metamorphic rock, inter¬ 
spersed with small crystals of agnite, overlay a stratum of volcanic stuff. 
It was formed like the crater of a volcauo, and full of black, bituminous 
matter, hot and sticky, which could be stirred up to the depth of eighteen 
inches. Floundering in it was a polecat or skunk (Memphetis vanans), 
having been enticed to its fate by the desire of securing a bird caught in 
the natural birdlime, till a bullet from the revolver of one of the party ter¬ 
minated the skunk’s struggles to extricate itself from the warm and adhe¬ 
sive bath in which it was hopelessly held captive. The overflow from this 
fountain was, as described, like a stream of petroleum two or three feet 
wide trickling over a bed of pitch or some such substance, which extended 
to a much greater width along the edge of the running stream at its contact 


626 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL K FOWLED 0 E. 

with it. This material was of a very sticky nature, becoming gradually 
harder as it spread farther out, assuming the appearance of asphalt when it 
became mingled with the loose sand of the adjoining soil. 

While engaged in examining this natural curiosity, we came upon two 
small birds caught in the sticky substance at the edge of the stream. They 
were still alive, but upon releasing them both the feathers and the skin 
came off where they had come in contact with the bituminous matter, so 
that we had to kill them to put an end to their sufferings. No doubt they had 
been taken in by the appearance of water which the stream presented, and 
had alighted to drink. Their fate suggested the idea that iu a district so 
devoid of water others of the feathered tribes must constantly become vic¬ 
tims to the same delusion in a similar manner, and upon a close inspection 
of the margin of the stream the correctness of this inference was established 
by the discovery of numerous skeletons of the birds embedded in it; nor 
were those of small quadrupeds unrepresented, among which we recog¬ 
nized the remains of a fox. 

Whale Pishing".— The immense bulk and energies of the whale itself 
do not constitute the least formidable among the terrors of this field of ad¬ 
venture. The desolate and inclement region, which is the scene of enter¬ 
prise, encompasses the pursuit with its worst hardships and dangers. In 
this realm of eternal Winter, man finds the land, the sea and the air, equally 
inhospitable. Everything fights against him. The intensest cold benumbs 
his flesh and joints; while fogs or driving sleet often darken the sky, and at 
the same time arm the frost with a keener tooth. The ocean over which he 
moves, besides its ordinary perils, is crowded with new and strange horrors. 

Sometimes the ice lies in fixed beds that bar all navigation as effectually 
as would a wall of iron, and over whose rugged and broken surface he can 
only make his way by leaping from point to point, at the risk of being en¬ 
gulfed at every step. Sometimes it bears down upon him in vast floating 
fields with such an impetus that, at the shock, the strong timbers of liis 
ship crack and give way like an egg-shell, or are crushed and ground to 
fragments between two meeting masses. Sometimes it rises before him in 
the shape of a lofty mountain which the least change in the relative weights 
of the portion above and that beneath the surface of the water may bring in 
sudden ruin upon his head, burying crew and vessel beneath the tumbfing 
chaos, or striking them far into the abyss. 

As for what may be dimly distinguished to be land, rimming with its 
precipitous coasts these dreary waters, it may be most fitly described in the 
lines in which the poet has pictured one of the regions of the nether world: 

“ Beyond this flood a frozen continent 
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms 
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land 
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems 
Of ancient pile; or else deep snow and ice.” 

At the farthest limit to which adventure has pierced, a night of four 
months’ duration closes each dismal year, throughout which human life has 
indeed been sustained by individuals previously inured to a severe climate 
but the horrors of which have, in most of the instances in which the dread¬ 
ful experiment has been either voluntarily or involuntarily tried bv the 
natives of more temperate regions, only driven the wretched sufferer 
through a succession ol the intensest bodily and mental tortures and then 
laid them at rest in the sleep of death. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


527 


The Worries of Authorship.— There are many disappointments in 
life, and among the saddest is that of the author who finds no market for 
the products of his brain. This misfortune has befallen the brightest of in¬ 
tellects. The coinage of their brains, stamped with genius, has found no 
currency during the author’s generation. 

“ Paradise Lost ” brought John Milton only a paltry five pounds—about 
twenty-five dollars of our money. 

Wordsworth once told Matthew Arnold that for many years “his poetry 
had never brought him in enough to buy his shoestrings.” 

“ Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which has a world-wide lame, and has been 
translated into many languages, went begging from publisher to publisher, 
before one recognized its great merit. 

Hawthorne for twenty years continued to be, to use his own words, “ the 
obscurest man of letters in America.” “ There is not much market for my 
wares,” he said at another time. But he ranks to-day among the American 
classics. 

Thoreau was another example. A thousand copies of his “A week on 
the Concord and Merrimac Rivers ” were struck off by his publisher. After 
a year or so, the author received word that his work would not sell, and 
that seven hundred and six copies were occupying cellar-room wanted for 
other use. Accordingly, they were transported from Boston to Concord. 
The work had gone forth in its nakedness and now returned in fine clothing 
of calico and leather, back to the old homestead, as so many poor unfortu¬ 
nates who have failed in the struggle of life have done. Thoreau gave them 
kindly though sorrowful welcome. He laid them on his back and carried 
them “ up two flights of stairs to a place similar to that which they traced 
their origin.” With a sort of grim humor he said, “ I have now a library of 
nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself.” 

Fire and Matches. —Who first made fire, when and where, a little 
child can easily ask, but a wise man cannot answer. The Persians, Phoeni¬ 
cians, Greeks, and other nations assert that their ancestors were without 
fire. Pliny says the ancient Egyptians were greatly delighted with fire, 
which was exhibited by Exedus, the celebrated astronomer. Until recently 
the inhabitants of the Philippine, Canary, and many other islands had never 
seen a fire. The inhabitants of the Marian Islands at first believed fire an 
animal that fed on wood. Eire and heat are both obtained by friction. 
Probably man first obtained fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together. 
Formerly a common practice among the people of the Sandwich Islands 
was to place a block of very dry wood on the ground and rub it with a blunt 
stick back and forth till a groove was made and ultimately fire. Captain 
Cook states that the Australian takes a dry piece of soft wood, which is par¬ 
tially sharpened at one end, and resting the point upon a block, revolves 
the stick rapidly between the hands, and often gets fire in two minutes. 
The natives of Terra del Fuego, “Land of Fire,” made fire by striking flint 
with iron pyrites, the sparks being caught on tinder. Our forefathers made 
use of similar means. Centuries ago glass globes filled with water were 
used to concentrate the rays of the sun and produce fire. Over two hun¬ 
dred years ago it was discovered that phosphorus, by friction, would ignite 
dry sticks dipped in sulphur. In 1836, Mr. A. D. Phillips, of Springfield, 
Mass., patented a mixture of glue, phosphorus, chalk and sulphur, with 
which friction matches were made, and soon they came into general use. 
Now seventy-five factories give work to twenty-five hundred employees, 


528 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE . 

one-third of whom are children. ' Annually 30,240,000,000 matches are 
made. 

Traveling* Stones.— Many have doubtless heard of the famous travel¬ 
ing stones of Australia. Similar curiosities have recently been found in 
Nevada, which are described as almost perfectly round, the majority of 
them as large as a walnut, and of an irony nature. When distributed about 
upon the floor, table,. or other level surface, within two or three feet of each 
other, they immediately begin traveling toward a common center, and there 
lie huddled up in a bunch like a lot of eggs in a nest. A single stone, re¬ 
moved to a distance of three and a half feet, upon being released, at once 
started off, with wonderful and somewhat comical celerity, to join its fel¬ 
lows; taken away four or five feet, it remained motionless. They are found 
in a region that is comparatively level, and is nothing but bare rock. Scat¬ 
tered over this barren region are little basins from a few feet to a rod or 
two in diameter, and it is in the bottom of those that the rolling stones are 
found. They are from the size of a pea to five or six inches in diameter. 
The cause of these stones rolling together is, doubtless, to be found in the 
material of which they are composed, which appears to be lodestone or 
magnetic iron ore. 

A Valley of Deatli. —A valley surpassing in reality of horrors the 
fabled region of the upas tree is reported to have been discovered in the 
island of Java. This island is volcanic, and in one spot the emanations 
from the interior of the earth are so deadly that the place is called the Val¬ 
ley of Death. As the traveler approaches it he is attacked by nausea and 
giddiness. He also notices a suffocating smell. As he advances these 
symptoms disappear, so that, after passing through the belt of fetid air 
which guards the valley, the visitor is able to examine with less risk the 
spectacle before him. A recent traveler describes the valley as being an 
oval, about one mile in circumference, and from thirty to forty feet below 
the level of the surrounding land. The floor of the valley is flat, dry, with¬ 
out any vegetation; and scattered all over it are the skeletfbs of men, 
tigers, wild boars, birds, and stags, lying among large blocks of stone. No 
steam or smoke is to be seen, nor is any crevice apparent in the earth, which 
appears to be as hard as a rock. The hills which hem in this valley of 
desolation are clothed from base to summit with healthy trees and bushes. 
The traveler from whom we have already quoted descended the side of one 
hill, with the aid of a bamboo stick, to about eighteen feet from the bottom, 
and he compelled a dog to go down to the plain. In five seconds the ani¬ 
mal fell on its side motionless, although it continued to breathe for eighteen 
minutes. Another dog died in ten minutes; and a fowl only resisted the 
deadly air for a minute and a half, and was dead before he reached the bot¬ 
tom. It is believed that the human skeletons are those of malefactors who 
have sought refuge here, ignorant of the fatal influence of the air they came 
to breathe. The neighboring mountains are volcanic, but they neither emit 
sulphurous odors, nor do they present any indications of recent eruption. 

A Wonderful Cave.— Kent’s cavern, in the vicinity of Torquay, in 
Devonshire, England, is a remarkable cave, consisting of a* great excavation 
in the Devonian limestone. It is entered by a narrow passage some seven 
feet wide and only five feet in height. The central cavern, which is almost 
600 feet long, has a number of smaller caverns or corridors leading out 
from it. Its farthest extremity is terminated by a deep pool of water? In 


529 


STATISTICAL AN 7) MISCELLANEOUS. 

the bed of this cavern modern research has been rewarded by some deeply 
interesting discoveries. Over the original earth bottom of the cave is a bed 
or layer of considerable thickness, in which are contained strange mixtures 
of human bones, with the bones of the elephant and the rhinoceros, the 
hyena, the bear, and the wolf, intermingled with stone and flint tools, arrow 
and spear heads, and fragments of coarse pottery. The animal remains 
testify to the presence in the ancient forests of Britain of beasts of prey 
which long since have become extinct. Speculation may be exhausted in 
the endeavor to account for the curious intermingling in this cavern of the 
remains of human beings and of wild animals. The place may have been 
used for shelter successively by man and by the lords of the forest; or, as 
the presence of the rude weapons of man might seem to indicate, the beasts 
of the field may have been brought into this natural recess as trophies of 
the chase, and their flesh and skins used for purposes of food and clothing. 
Nothing less than the most persevering and enthusiastic search could have 
discovered the interesting remains which, for a vast period of time, had 
been buried in this retreat, for the fossils were covered by a thick floor of 
stalagmite which had been formed by great blocks of limestone, which had 
fallen from time to time from the roof of the cavern, and had become ce¬ 
mented into one mass by the perpetual percolations of limewater from 
above. 

The Richest Women in New York.— It seems that the richest 
women in New York are Mrs. John Jacob Astor, who has a fortune of 
$8,000,000; Mrs. William Astor, worth $6,000,000; Mrs. Josephine Ayer, 
worth $4,000,000; Mrs. Isaac Bell, Jr., worth $2,000,000; Miss Linda Blatch- 
ford, worth $2,000,000; Mrs. James Brown, worth $4,000,000; Mrs. Franklin 
Delano, $2,500,000; Mrs. William E. Dodge, Sr., $4,000,000; Mrs. Coleman 
Drayton, who has an income of $100,000 a year; Mrs. Robert Goelet, $3,000,- 
000; Miss Sarah Hitchcock, $12,000,000; Mrs. Mason-Jones, $6,000,000; Mrs. 
Bradley Martin has $1,000 a day; Mrs. John Mintum, $2,000,000; Mrs. 
Charles Morgan, $3,000,000; Mrs. E. W. Morgan has a life income from 
several millions; Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, $10,000,000; Mrs. Archibald 
Rogers, $3,000,000; Mrs. Edwin H. Stevens, $20,000,000; Mrs. Paran Stevens, 
$6,000,000; Mrs. A. T. Stewart, $30,000,000; Mrs. Moses Taylor, who has a 
life interest in an immense fortune; Mrs. Catherine Wolfe has an annual in¬ 
come of nearly $500,000; Mrs. Abram S. Hewitt is worth $2,000,000; Mrs. 
Jesse Hoyt, $6,000,000; Mrs. George Merritt, $2,000,000; Mrs. Frederick 
Neilson has $80,000 a year; Mrs. George Osgood, $2,500,000; Mrs. Percy R. 
Pyne has an income of $535,000 a year; Mrs. Henry Remsen has a fortune of 
$3,000,000; Mrs. C. Vanderbilt, $1,500,000, and Miss George Quintard, 
$6,000,000. These are lucky women, although there are many more whose 
incomes range from $30,000 to $75,000 a year. 

The Discovery of Silk and Satin.— The discovery of silk is 
attributed to one of the wives of the emperor of China, Hoang-ti, who reigned 
afrout two thousand years before the Christian era; and since that time a 
special Bpot has been allotted in gardens of the Chinese royal palace to the 
cultivation of the mulberry tree and to the keeping of silk-worms. Per¬ 
sian monks who came to Constantinople revealed to the Emperor Justinian 
the secret of the production of silk, and gave him some silk-worms. 
From Greece the art passed into Italy at the end of the thirteenth century. 
When the popes left Rome to settle at Avignon, France, they introduced 


530 CYGLOFJED1A OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 

into that country the secret which had been kept by the Italians, and Louis 
XI established at Tours a manufactory of silk fabrics. Francis I founded 
the Lyons silk works, which to this day have kept the first rank. Henry II of 
France wore at the wedding of his sister the first pair of silk hose ever made. 
The word “ satin,” which in the original was applied to all silk stuffs in 
general, has since the last century been used to designate only tissues 
which present a lustred surface. The discovery of this particular brilliant 
stuff was accidental. Octavio Mai, a silk weaver, finding business very 
dull, and not knowing what to invent to give a new impulse to the trade, 
was one day pacing to and fro before his loom. Every time he passed the 
machine, with no definite object in view, he pulled little threads from the 
warp and put them to his mouth, which soon after he spat out. Later oa 
he found the little ball of silk on the floor of his workship, and attracted by 
the brilliant appearance of the threads, he repeated the experiment, and by 
using certain mucilaginous preparations, succeeded in giving satin to the 
world. 

Ancient Babylon.— Between 2,000 and 500 b. c., Babylonia was the 
garden of the ancient world. The land, surrounded like an island by two 
of the finest streams in the world, the Euphrates and Tigris—the rivers of 
Paradise—is truly the gift of both. They flowed with swift current from the 
Armenian highlands into the sea now known as the Persian Gulf. In the 
course of centuries large masses of loam were rolled down and heaped at 
their original mouths, and this is what we now call Babylonia. It was on 
this soaked, tat and fertile soil that the oldest authentic civilization, not of 
Asia merely, but of the world, developed itself. The melting of the Arme¬ 
nian snows caused inundations which had to be checked by damming the 
rivers with dykes and walls. Canals served for navigation, and also led off 
the superfluous waters to parts unaffected by the overflow, and developed 
to such a degree their fertility that wheat and barley often gave the laborer 
two or three hundred fold. Near Bagdad the two rivers are so near that 
only six hours are required to pass from one to the other. On this tongue 
of land, which was once a fourth narrower, the great canal system com¬ 
menced, and by means of still smaller arteries, the life-giving waters were 
distributed to nearly every tree. The district between Bagdad and Hilla 
(a three-days’ ride), was formerly strewed with heaps of towns and villages. 
To its south, in the very heart of the land, lay Babylon, “ the gate of God.” 
Its commercial importance is described, its fortifications, the Euphrates 
(half a mile wide), swarming with ships of every size, the large Euphrates 
bridge, built by Nebuchadnezzar, the different quarters and great build¬ 
ings, the royal bank, where important business, public and private was 
transacted. 

Wliy a Man Cannot Ply.— No combination of wings will enable a 
man to fly until he can wield them with as much muscular power to the 
pound of weight as a bird exerts in flying. If a man had in his legs the 
muscular energy and leverage of a flea, he could jump a mile in three 
leaps, and if his arms had in proportion to his weight the driving power cf 
a wild pigeon’s wing, he would have no use for railways or balloons. The 
transportation problem would be solved. Moving himself so easily and so 
swiftly, he would not need to move anything else. The albatross, weighing 
twenty-eight pounds, can keep its wings, thirteen feet from tip to tip in 
motion all day, while the strongest man, weighing six or eight times as 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 


531 


much, would exhaust all his strength in keeping even an albatross’s wings 
in motion half an hour. “ We have in the bird,” says the Engineer, “ a ma¬ 
chine burning concentrated fuel m a large grate at a tremendous rate, and 
developing a very large power in a small space. There is no engine in ex¬ 
istence, certainly no steam engine and boiler combined which, weight for 
weight, gives out anything like the mechanical power exhibited by th© 
albatross. Consequently, no machinery yet devised can operate wings with 
sufficient power to sustain its own weight in the air, and there is no known 
machinery by which a man can wield the force necessary to fly like a bird. 
Keely’s alleged discovery, or some new process of storing and exerting 
great electric power in apparatus of light weight, might supply the de¬ 
ficiency, but science has not learned howto develop in inanimate machinery 
anything like the mighty nervous energy which acts in the bones, sinews, 
and muscles of a living bird’s wing.” 

A River of Hot Water. —The great Sutro Tunnel, cut to relieve the 
celebrated Comstock mines at Virginia City, Nevada, of the vast quantities 
of hot water which are encountered in them, affords an outlet to twelve 
million tuns every twenty-four hours, or about three billion gallons. Some 
of the water, as it finds its way into the mines, has a temperature of 
195°, while four miles from the mouth of the tunnel the temperature ranges 
from 130° to 135°. To obviate the inconvenience which would arise from 
the vapor such a vast quantity of water would give off, the flow is conducted 
through the entire tunnel, four miles, in a light flume of pine. At the point 
of exit the water has lost but seven degrees of heat. Sixty feet below the 
mouth of the tunnel the hot water is utilized for turning machinery belong¬ 
ing to the company, from whence it is carried off by a tunnel eleven hun¬ 
dred feet in length, which serves as a waterway. Leaving the wasteway 
tunnel, the water flows to the Carson Biver, a mile and a half distant. This 
hot water is being utilized for many purposes. The boys have arranged 
several pools where they indulge in ho-t baths. The miners and others use 
it for laundry purposes, and arrangements are being made whereby a 
thousand acres belonging to the company are being irrigated: It is pro¬ 
posed to conduct the hot water through iron pipes, beneath the surface of 
the soil, near the roots of thousands of fruit trees which are to be planted, 
and in a similar manner give the necessary warmth to a number of hot¬ 
houses to be used for the propagation of early fruits and vegetables. 

Australian Vastness.— It is not easy to grasp the enormous bulk of 
the Australian continent—the practically unlimited space within which the 
colonies have room to grow. The colony of Victoria—the smallest and at 
the same time the most populous and highly developed of the continental 
grouo—is about as large as Great Britain. New South Wales has an area 
five times that of England, but is not half so big as Queensland and only a 
third of the size of South Australia. Western Australia is even larger and 
more empty of population; after measuring acres with South Australia it 
would have almost sufficient land to furnish out New Zealand and Tasmania, 
and yet New Zealand compares in area with the British Islands, and 
Tasmania is nearly as large as Scotland. The acreage under crop in the 
Australian colonies in 1880 was 6,500,000 acres. That seems a respectable 
total; yet it seems ridiculously small when we compare with it the illimitable 
extent of land yet lying waste. To take the case ot New South Wales, 
while there are 635,900 acres in cultivation and 17,500,000 acres inclosed. 


532 CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


there are 180,000,000 acres, much of it excellent land, still unalienated. 
Even at the present rapid rate at which the land is being fenced, it will 
occupy 180 years to dispose of it all. This colony alone contained the ex¬ 
traordinary number of 32,400,000 sheep in 1880, besides 2,580,000 cattle and 
nearly 400,000 horses. Before the close of the next decade it is expected 
that the sheep stock of New South Wales will run to between 40,000,000 
and 50,000,000 head. 

Iowa’s Great Wonder. —The greatest wonder in the State of Iowa, 
and perhaps any other State, is what is called the “ Walled Lake,” in 
Wright County, twelve miles north of the Dubuque and Pacific Railway, and 
one hundred and fifty miles west of Dubuque City. The lake is from two 
to three feet higher than the earth’s surface. In some places the wall is 
ten feet high, fifteen feet wide at the bottom, and five wide on top. Another 
fact is the size of the stones used in construction, the whole of them vary¬ 
ing in weight from three- tons down to a hundred pounds. There is an 
abundance of stones in Wright County, but surrounding the lake to the ex¬ 
tent of five or ten miles there are none. No one can form an idea as to the 
means employed to bring them to the spot, or who constructed it. Around 
the entire lake is a belt of woodland half a mile in width, composed of oak. 
With this exception the country is a rolling prairie. The trees must have 
been planted there at the time of the building of the wall. In the spring of 
the year 1856 there was a great storm and the ice on the lake broke the wall 
in several places, and the farmers in the vicinity were obliged to repair the 
damages to prevent inundation. The lake occupies a grand surface of 
two thousand eight hundred acres; depths of water as great as twenty-five 
feet. The water is clear and cold, soil sandy and loamy. It is singular that 
no one has been able to ascertain where the water comes from nor where it 
goes, yet it is always clear and fresh. 

Invention of Balloons.— The admirers of crinoline will be proud to 
learn that the invention of balloons is owing to a similar contrivance. The 
French give a curious anecdote of a simple occurrence which led the in¬ 
ventor of such machines—Montgolfier—to turn his attention to the subject. 
It is to this effect: A washerwoman of the Rue aux Juifs, in the Marais, 
placed a petticoat on a basket-work frame, over a stove, to dry. In order 
to concentrate all the heat, and to prevent its escaping by the aperture at 
the top, she drew the strings closely together which are used to tie it round 
the waist. By degrees the stuff dried, became lighter, and the stove con¬ 
tinuing to heat and rarefy the air concentrated under the framework, the 
petticoat began to move, and at last rose in the air. The washerwoman 
was so astonished that she ran out to call her neighbors; and they, seeing 
it suspended in the air, were amazed. One individual, however, a'simple 
paper maker from Annonay, named Montgolfier, as much astonished but 
more sensible than the others, returned home, and without loss of time 
studied the work of Priestly on different kinds of atmosphere. The result 
was the discovery of the first balloon, called Montgolfier’s, of which he was 
the inventor. As the Nautilus probably gave the idea of a sailing vessel, so 
also do very simple causes often produce great and unexpected results. * 

A Wonderful Clock.— A new perpetual clock was put up recently at 
the Gare du Nord, Brussels, in such a position as to be fully exposed to the 
influences of the wind and weather, and though it has not since been 
touched, it has continued to keep good time. The weight is constantly 


533 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 

wound up by a fan placed in tbe chimney. As soon as it approaches the 
extreme height of its course, it actuates a brake, which stops the fan; and 
the greater the tendency of the fan to revolve, so much the more strongly 
does the brake act to prevent it. A simple pawl arrangement prevents a 
down draft from exerting any effect. There is no necessity for a fire, as 
the natural draft of the chimney or pipe is sufficient; and if the clock is 
placed out-of-doors all that is required is to place it above a pipe sixteen or 
twenty feet high. The clock is made to run twenty-four hours after being 
wound up, so as to provide for any temporary stoppage, but, by the addi¬ 
tion of a wheel or two, it may be made to go for eight days after cessation 
of winding. The inventor, a native of Belgium, showed his original model 
at the Paris Exhibition in 1878, but he has since considerably improved 
upon it. 

The Gulf Stream.— There is a river in the ocean. In the severest 
droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest flood it never overflows. Its 
banks and the bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm. The 
Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. It is the 
Gulf Stream. There is in the world no other so majestic a flow of water. 
Its current is more swift than the Mississippi or the Amazon, and its vol¬ 
ume more than a thousand times greater. Its waters, as far as the Caro¬ 
lina coasts, are of indigo blue. These are so distinctly marked that the 
common sea water can be traced with the eye. Often one-half the vessel 
may be perceived floating in the Gulf Stream water, while the other half is 
in the common water of the sea, so sharp is the line and the want of affinity 
between these waters; and such, too, the reluctance, so to speak, on the 
part of those of the Gulf Stream to mingle with the common waters of the 
sea. In addition to this, there is another peculiar fact. The fisherman on 
the coast of Norway are supplied with wood from the tropics by the Gulf 
Stream. Think of the Arctic fishermen burning upon their hearths the 
palms of Hayti, the mahogany of Honduras, and the precious woods of the 
Amazon and the Orinoco! 

Ancestry of the Pen.— The earliest mode of writing was on bricks, 
tiles, oyster-shells, stone, ivory, bark, and leaves of trees, and lrom the 
latter the term “ leaves of a book ” is probably derived. Copper and brass 
plates were very early in use; and a bill of feoffment on copper was some 
years since discovered in India, bearing date one hundred years before 
Christ. Leather was also used, as well as wooden tablets. Then the papy¬ 
rus came into vogue, aDd about the eighth century the papyrus was super¬ 
seded by parchment. Paper, however, is of great antiquity, especially 
among the Chinese; but the first paper-mill in England was built in 1588 by 
a German, at Dartford, in Kent. Nevertheless, it was nearly a century and 
a half—namely, in 171S—before Thomas Watkins, a stationer, brought paper 
making to anything like perfection. The first approach to a pen was the 
stylus, a kind of iron bodkin; but the Bomans forbade its use on account of 
its frequent and even fatal use in quarrels, and then it was made of bone. 
Subsequently, reeds, pointed and split, like pens as in the present day, 
were used. 

Limit of Perpetual Snow, and Growth of Trees.-On the 

Andes, in lat. 2 deg., the limit of perpetual snow is 14,760 ft. In Mexico, 
lat. 19 deg., the limit is 13,800 ft.; on the peak of Teneriffe, 11,454 ft.; on 
Mount Etna, 9,000 ft.; on Caucasus, 9,900 ft.; on the Pyrenees, 8,400 ft.; in 


534 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 


Lapland, 3,100 ft.; in Iceland, 2,890 ft. The walnut ceases to grow at an 
elevation of 3,600 ft.; the yellow pine at 6,200 ft.; the ash at 4,800 ft.; and 
the fir at 6,700 ft. The loftiest inhabited spot on the globe is the Port 
House of Ancomarca, on the Andes, in Peru, 16,000 feet above the level of 
the sea. The 14th peak of the Himalayas, in Asia, 28,178 feet high, is the 
loftiest mountain in the world. 

How an Insect Breathes. —If we take any moderately large insect, 
say a wasp or a hornet, we can see, even with the naked eye, that a series 
of small, spot-like marks run along either side of the body. These appar¬ 
ent spots, which are generally eighteen or twenty in number, are, in fact, 
the apertures through which air is admitted into the system, and are gener¬ 
ally formed in such a manner that no extraneous matter can by any possi¬ 
bility find entrance. Sometimes they are furnished with a pair of horny 
lips, which can be opened and closed at the will of the insect; in other cases 
they are densely fringed with stiff interlacing bristles, forming a filter, 
which allows air, and air alone, to pass. But the apparatus, of whatever 
character it may be, is always so wonderfully perfect in its action that it 
has been found impossible to inject the body of a dead insect with even so 
subtile a medium as spirits of wine, although the subject was first immersed 
in the fluid and then placed beneath the receiver of an air pump. 

Alaska’s Resources— The resources of Alaska are abundant in 
quantity and magnificent in quality. They are divided between the sea and 
the land. The fisheries are described as being among the finest in the 
world. As many as 7,000 salmon are often taken at a single haul of the 
seine, some of them weighing from forty-five to 100 pounds each. Those 
captured at Crook’s Inlet average even heavier, and distance all competition 
in Oregon or elsewhere. In the mining region near Sitka, ten well devel¬ 
oped ledges of gold-bearing quartz have been uncovered, and eight mines 
are already located and will soon be in active operation. These ledges, 
which have been followed three miles or more, are pronounced, by a com¬ 
petent Russian engineer, capable of averaging $32 per ton. Experienced 
miners who have examined them think the Alaska yield of gold and silver 
will eventually be larger than that of California and Nevada combined. 

American Inventive Genius —The inventions of man have had an 
immense influence in aiding the production of manufactured articles, and 
it has been estimated that two-thirds of the aggregate wealth of the United 
States is due to patented inventions. The patents granted by the United 
States Government are nearly equal to those of both the English and the 
French Governments combined. 

A glance at one or two of our inventions will Bhow us that the estimate 
mentioned above is not without some foundation. We make in this country 
annually about 1,000,000 sewing machines, which can do as much work as 
formerly required 12,000.000 women to do by hand. A single shoe factory 
in Massachusetts turns out as many boots as 30,000 bootmakers can in the 
city of Paris. It will take the raw leather and in twenty minutes turn out a 
pair of shoes ready for the wearer. 

Fifty years ago all the spinning done in this country was done on a com¬ 
mon household spinning-wheel. An active woman, working ten hours 
a day, could spin a thread 3 8-10 miles in length, and she would walk 
over five miles in doing it. Now, in one of our factories, you will see a girl 
of fifteen minding a machine which spins a thread 2,100 miles long in a day. 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 535 

Before the cotton gin was invented, a man could only clean four pounds of 
cotton a day. Now he can clean 4,000 pounds a day with the help of the 
gin. The cotton crop of 1880, estimated at about 4,700,000 bales, under the 
old process of cleaning it, would require 505,000,000 days work, which at $1 
per day, would cost $505,000,000 for cleaning the cotton. The work is now 
done by 1,614 men, at a cost of not over $500,000. 

In the production of Bessemer steel rails in this country, the value of 
patents in aiding production is quite as clearly seen. In 1868, the average 
price of steel rails was $158 per ton. Now it is but $34 per ton. In 1883 we 
produced 1,295,000 tons of steel rails. This quantity in 1868 would have 
cost nearly $160,000,000 more than it would cost m 1884. 

To take a broader view of the subject, we find that each operator in the 
United States turns out $1,500 worth of goods per annum, while those of 
Great Britain produce only $1,100 each; those of France about $1,000; and 
those of Germany a little over $500. Averaging all Europe, the operatives 
of the United States do double the value of work that the operatives of 
Europe do. This is tho result of our inventive genius applied to our 
improved machinery. 

Life Thoughts. —Your life is what you make it. 

The best philosophy—a contented mind. 

If you would be strong, conquer yourself. 

Man should be ever better than he seems. 

He dines sumptuously who dines out of debt. 

No man can be free unless he governs himself. 

Good company and good conversation are the very sinews of virtue. 

The worst and most unendurable of all our ills are the imaginary ones. 

Study books to know how things ought to be; study men to know how 
things are. 

The sins of ignorance are most numerous, but the sins of knowledge are 
most dangerous. 

Law is like prussic acid—a dangerous remedy, and the smallest dose is 
generally sufficient. 

Our happiness does not consist in being without passions, but in having 
control of them. 

You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and 
forge yourself into one. 

The perfection of wisdom and the end of true philosophy is to proportion 
our wants to our possessions, 'and our ambitions to our capacities. 

One reason why the world is not reformed is because every man is bent 
on reforming others, and never thinks of reforming himself. 

The earth is a great factory wheel, which, at every revolution on its 
axis, receives fifty thousand raw souls, and turns off nearly the same num¬ 
ber worked up more or less completely. 

If we save the moments of time we will have enough for every needful 
work. Moments are the material of which days and years are made. If 
these be well improved, we will have years devoted to profitable employ¬ 
ment. 

A man who can give up dreaming and go to his daily realities, who can 
smother down his heart, its love or woe, and take to the hard work of his 
hand, who defies fate, and, if he must die, dies fighting to the last—that 
man is life’s best hero. 

We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think we do; 


536 CYCLOPEDIA OP USEFUL KNOW LED U E. 


therefore never go abroad in search of your wants. If they be real wants, 
they will come home in search of you; for he that buys what he does not 
want will soon want what he cannot buy. 

The Number of Languages.— The least learned are aware that 
there are many languages in the world, but the actual number is probably 
beyond the dreams of ordinary people. The geographer Balbi enumerated 
eight hundred and sixty, which are entitled to be considered as distinct 
languages, and five thousand which may be regarded as dialects. Adul- 
guns, another modern writer on this subject, reckons up three thousand 
and sixty-four languages and dialects, existing, and which have existed. 
Even after we have allowed either of these as the number of languages, we 
must acknowledge the existence of almost infinite minor diversities; for 
almost every province has a tongue more or less peculiar, and this we may 
well believe to be the case throughout the world at large. It is said there 
are little islands, lying close together in the South Sea, the inhabitants of 
which do not understand each other. Of the eight hundred and sixty dis¬ 
tinct languages enumerated by Balbi, fifty-three belong to Europe, one 
hundred and fourteen to Africa, one hundred and twenty-three to Asia, 
four hundred and seventeen to America, one hundred and seventeen to 
Oceanica—by which term he distinguishes the vast number of islands 
stretching between Hindostan and South America. 

Sounds During the Night —The great audibility of sounds dur¬ 
ing the night is a phenomenon of considerable interest, and one which has 
been observed even by the ancients. In crowded cities, or in their vicinity, 
the effect was generally ascribed to the rest of animated beings, while in 
localities where such an explanation was inapplicable, it was supposed to 
arise from a favorable direction of the prevailing wind. Baron Humboldt 
was partially struck with this phenomenon when he first heard the rushing 
of the great cataract of the Orinoco in the plain which surrounds the mission 
of the Aures. These sounds he regarded as three times louder during the 
night than during the day. 

Some authors ascribe this fact to the cessation of the humming of in¬ 
sects, the singing of birds, and the action of the wind on the leaves of the 
trees; but Baron Humboldt justly maintains that this cannot be the cause 
of it on the Orinoco, where the buzz of insects is much louder in the night 
than in the day, and where the breeze never rises till after sunset. Hence 
he was led to ascribe the phenomenon to the perfect transparency and uni¬ 
form density of the air, which can exist only at night after the heat of the 
ground has been uniformly diffused through the atmosphere. When the 
rays ot the sun have been beating on the ground during the day, currents 
of hot air of different temperatures, and consequently of different densities, 
are constantly ascending from the ground and mixing with the cold air 
above. The air thus ceases to be a uniform medium, and objects seen 
through it are very indistinctly visible with a tremulous motion, as if they 
were “ dancing in the air.” The very same effect is perceived when we 
look at objects through spirits and water that are not perfectly mixed, or 
when wo view distant objects over a red-hot poker, or over a flame. In*all 
these cases the light suffers refraction in passing from a medium of one den¬ 
sity into a medium of different density, and the reflected rays are constantly 
changing their direction, as the different currents rise in succession. Analo¬ 
gous effects are produced when sound passes through a mixed medium. 


537 


STATISTICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS. 

Inelegant Language.—Few people realize how many words are 
used improperly in the course of ordinary conversation. Take, for exam¬ 
ple, the word fix—the strict meaning of which is to make fast, to settle. 
But it is improperly used in many other ways, as “ I fixed my hair, I fixed 
the wagon, I fixed my gloves, I fixed the room,” etc.; instead of “I 
brushed my hair, I repaired the wagon, I sewed my gloves, I put my room 
in order,” etc. Another word, used still more loosely ancl widely, is “ nice.” 
This properly means over-exact, punctilious, delicate, subtle. But it is 
often employed to denote all commendable qualities. We often hear care¬ 
less speakers say, “ this apple is nice,” instead of delicious; “ she is a nice 
girl,” instead of good or agreeable; “ a nice landscape,” for a lovely land¬ 
scape; “ a nice cottage,” instead of a snug one; “ a nice man,” instead of a 
genial man; “a nice mountain,” instead of a grand or lofty one; “a nice 
drink of water,” for a refreshing one; “ a nice smell ” to a flower, for a 
pleasant odor; and so on without limit. Then there is the word awful, 
meaning fearful or sublime. Yet, how frequently we hear of an awful nice 
day or an awful-looking dress! The word “ got ” is another victim which is 
dragged into service on all occasions. “I got up in the morning and got 
my breakfast, got to work soon after and got home by ten,” for example. 
All these inelegancies are unpleasant to the refined ear. To correct them, 
when they have become a habit, repeat to yourself the correction, and con¬ 
tinue to repeat it till it becomes ready and familiar in use. In this way 
young persons may acquire the habit of using the beBt language, and the 
longer it is continued the easier it will become. 

The Origin of Postage Stamps.— The origin of the postage stamp 
had a tinge of romance in it. It was thirty-seven years ago that Rowland 
Hill, while crossing a district in the north of England, arrived at the door 
of an inn where a postman had stopped to deliver a letter. A young girl 
came out to receive it; she turned it over and over in her hand and asked 
the price of postage. This was a large sum, and evidently the girl was 
poor, for the postmaster demanded a shilling. She sighed sadly and said 
the letter was from her brother, but that she had no money, and so she re¬ 
turned the letter to the postman. Touched with pity, Mr. Hill paid the 
postage and gave the letter to the girl, who seemed very much embarrassed. 
Scarcely had the postman turned his back, when the young inn-keeper’s 
daughter confessed that it was a trick between her and her brother. Some 
signs on the envelope told her all she wanted to know, but the letter con¬ 
tained no writing. “ We are both so poor,” she added, “ that we invented 
this mode of corresponding without paying for the letters.” The traveler, 
continuing his road, asked himself if a system giving rise to such frauds 
was not a vicious one ? Before sunset Rowland had planned to organize the 
postal service upon a new basis—with what success is known to the world. 

A Paper-Making Spider.— In the heart of the African Continent, 
where no other paper is manufactured, the spider paper-maker does her 
quiet work. Back and forth, over a flat service about an inch and a half 
square, on the inside wall of a hut, the spider slowly moves in many lines 
until the square is covered with a pure white paper. Under this she places 
from forty to fifty eggs; and then, to fasten the square ol paper more se¬ 
curely to the wall, she makes a strip of paper about a quarter of an inch 
broad, and with this glues the square carefully around the edges. 

When all is done, the spider—which is quite a large one—places herself 


538 CYCLOPAEDIA OF USEFUL 


KNOWLEDGE. 


on the center of the outside of the little flat bag so carefully made, and be¬ 
gins a watch, which is to last for three weeks without intermission. Appar¬ 
ently the young spiders would have many dangers to fear, did not their 
anxious mamma wage a fierce war upon the cockroaches and other insects 
that come near. After three weeks of unremitting watchfulness, the mother- 
spider leaves her nest in the day-time to hunt food, but she always returns 
at night, until her young are strong enough to take care of themselves. 

Statistics of Longevity.— Dr. Farr, an English scientist, says that 
if one could watch the march of 1,000,000 people through life the following 
result would be observable: Nearly 150,000 will die the first year, 53,000 the 
second year, 28,000 in the third year, and less than 4,000 in the thirteenth 
year. At the end of forty-five years 500,000 will have died. At the end of 
sixty years 370,000 will be still living; at the end of eighty years, 97,000; at 
eighty-five years, 31,000, and at ninety-five years, 2,100. At the end of 100 
years there will be 223, and at the end of 108 years there will be but one 
survivor. 


INDEX 


PAGE 


PAGE 


Abyssinians, the. 185 

Adams, John. 21 

Afghan beauty, an. 196 

Africa, life in. 165 

Air. 428 

Alaska’s resources. 534 

Allegheny River, the.214 

Alligator, the. 110 

Allspice.317 

Almonds. 318 

Alpine peaks. 231 

Alps, the herdsmen of the.187 

Amber. 288 

American cities, population of. 477 

American history, chronological... 80 

American States, cities, etc., popu¬ 
lar sobriquets of. 488 

Anemones, sea. 381 

Animals, duration of life of.499 

Animal wonders. 524 

Ant-eater, the. 96 

Ants, white. 143 

Apostles, the fate of..505 

Apricots. 313 

Arabs, the. 170 

Arctic seas, in. 226 

Assignments. 456 

Astor, John Jacob. 25 

Atlantic Ocean, depth of the.514 

Attar of roses. 312 

Aurora Borealis, the, or Northern 

lights. 413 

Australian marriage customs. 201 

Australian vastness. 531 

Authorship, the worries of.527 

Babylon, ancient. 530 

Bagdad customs.190 

Balloons, invention of.532 

Balls, rubber. 282 

Bamboo, the. 334 

Bananas. 320 

Bank checks.448 

Banyan tree, the. 340 


Barometers, nature’s. 511 

Bartholdi Statue, the. 212 

Bats. HI 

Bayard, Thomas F. 56 

Bear, the. 88 

Beauty, female. 171 

Beaver, the.102 

Beecher, Henry Ward. 36 

Betel-nut tree, the.331 

Bills of sale. 457 

Bird of paradise, the. 129 

Bison, the. 90 

Bittern, the. 12T 

Blaine, James G. 56 

Bluejay, the American. 133 

Bobolink, the. 135 

Bonaparte, Napoleon. 14 

Bonds.442 

Bookbinding.241 

Boots, rubber.282 

Borneo, weddings in. 192 

Braddock’s defeat. 76 

Brass. 280 

Bryant, William Cullen. 39 

Bulgarian wake, a. 202 

Burmah, courting in. 194 

Business vocabulary. 517 

Butterflies. 135 

Buttons.291 

Byron, Lord. 17 

Cables, Atlantic.510 

Calico printing. 252 

California, the big trees or.328 

Camphor tree, the. 308 

Cape Horn in the Sierras.. 226 

Capitals, the use of. 494 

Caribou or American reindeer, cue. 101 


Cashmere women. 

Castor oil plant, the .... 
Catacombs of Rome, the 

Cave, a wonderful. 

Caves, how formed. 

Celluloid. 


203 

308 

227 

528 

515 

288 

• 
























































































540 


INDEX 


TAGK 


Chamois, the. 100 

Chewing gum. 291 

China and porcelain. 1 .258 

China and the Chinese. 144 

China, the area and population of.. 482 

Cinnamon..... 316 

Clay, Henry. 27 

Cleveland, Grover. 60 

Clock, a wonderful. 532 

Clocks and watches, ancient.525 

Clothes pins. 288 

Cloves. 315 

Coal..*_369 

Cocoa and chocolate. 295 

Cocoanuts. 319 

Coffee. 294 

Colugo, the. 112 

Combs.286 

Commerce of the world.496 

“Conch” pearl, the. 391 

Condor, the. 119 

Consideration. 455 

Continents, the area and population 

of.477 

Contracts. 454 

Cooper, James Fenimore. 30 

Cooper, Peter. 47 

Copper. 372 

Copper-plate printing. 243 

Coral fishing.386 

Corals of the Indian Ocean, the.... 385 

Cork tree, the. 308 

Cormorant, the.128 

Cotton. 296 

Cotton gin, the. 355 

Countries of the world, principal, 

area, population, etc., of the_479 

Countries, origin of the names of.. 500 

Country without women, a. 177 

Cow tree, the. 332 

Crackers.283 

Crane, the. 126 

Crested grebe, the.126 

Crocodile, the. 108 

Crowns, European, the jewels in... 513 

Cuckoo, the. 123 

Dates. 321 

Debts, recovery of.450 

Deeds. 451 

Deeds, acknowledgment and proof 
Of. 453 


PAGE 

Delivery.453 

Dew. 435 

Diamonds. 368 

Dickens, Charles. 38 

Discoveries, accidental. 359 

Discovery and progress, chronologi¬ 
cal history of. 485 

Diver, the. 384 

Divorce. 466 

Dower. 465 

Dreams. 522 

Eagle, the. 125 

Earthquakes.440 

Earth, the. 395 

Easement. 475 

Edinburgh Castle.1. 229 

Edmunds, George F. 51 

Egyptians, the. 183 

Electricity.425 

Electric light, the. 350 

Elephant, the. 88 

Elk, the. 99 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. 41 

Envelopes. 276 

Evarts, William M. 54 

Everett, Edward. 30 

Executors and administrators. 460 

Fables, popular, origin of. 500 

Falcon, the. 130 

Famous persons, dying words of... 503 
Fawn’s Leap, Catskill Mountains.. 210 

Ferret, the. 105 

Figs. 322 

Fire and matches. 527 

Fish, flying.113 

Flax.. 

Fountain tree, the. 338 

Franconia Notch, White Mountains 208 

Franklin, Benjamin. 19 

Freezing points, etc., of various 

substances. 523 

Frogs. n2 

Fulton, Robert. 25 

Garfield, James A. 49 

Gems, about. 512 

Genius, origin of. 502 

Ginger. 314 

Giraffe, the. 93 

Gladstone, William E. 44 

Glass. 256 

Globe, the, statistics of. 505 





























































































INDEX 


541 


PAGE 

Gold.362 

Gothic Chapel, Mammoth Cave, 

Kentucky.216 

Governments of the world, leading. 506 

Grand Canon of the Colorado.219 

Grant, Ulysses S. 49 

Great Falls of the Missouri River, 

Montana. 220 

Great works, insignificant origin of 508 

Greeks, the. 191 

Greeley, Horace. 33 

Groaning tree, the.339 

Guaranty.449 

Gulf stream, the. 533 

Gum Arabic. 290 

Gutta Percha.307 

Hail. 438 

Hamilton, Alexander. 23 

Heat.419 

Hedgehog, the. 98 

Hemp .301 

Hendricks, Thomas A. 61 

Henry, Patrick. 21 

Heron, the.123 

Highways. 473 

Hippopotamus, the. 86 

Holidays, legal, throughout the 

United States. 523 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. 46 

Humble bee, the.137 

Husband and wife.465 

Iceland, life in. 188 

Indian Ocean, at the bottom of the. 393 

India rubber tree, the. 306 

India, the castes and tribes of.156 

Inquisition, or Holy Office, the. 69 

Insect, an, how breathes. 534 

Interest, how to calculate. 509 

Interesting facts.515 

Inventions, coincidences in.361 

Inventions, the age of. 360 

Inventive genius, American. 534 

Iowa’s great wonder. 532 

Iron. 251 

Irving, Washington. 31 

Isinglass.237 

Islands, floating. 516 

Italy, how they dance in. 191 

Ivory plant, the. 329 

Jackson, Andrew. 26 

Jaguar, the. 91 


PAGE 

Jak tree, the.325 

Japanese, the. 151 

Jefferson, Thomas. 22 

Kafflrland, polygamy in. 201 

Katrine, Loch. 228 

Kid gloves. 279 

Kingfisher, the belted. 134 

Lace. 288 

Lakes, the gi’eat, measurements of. 511 

Landlord and tenant. 469 

Land of the midnight sun, the.204 

Language, incorrect.491 

Language, inelegant. 537 

Languages, the number of. 536 

Lapp and his reindeer, the .188 

Largest of their kind. 510 

Laughing plant, the. 338 

Lead. 378 

Lead pencils. 277 

Leases. 471 

Leather. 265 

Lemons. 324 

Leopard, the. 92 

Libel and slander. 476 

Liens. 446 

Life thoughts. 535 

Light.418 

Limes.325 

Limit of perpetual snow and 

growth of trees. 533 

Lincoln, Abraham. 32 

Lion, the. 86 

Lithography.243 

Locomotion of animals and veloc¬ 
ity of bodies.483 

London, the city of, facts regarding 512 

Longevity, statistics of. 538 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. 39 

Lowell, James Russell. 47 

Lyre-bird, the. 117 

Mahogany. 342 

Man, a, why cannot fly. 530 

Man, how constructed. . 509 

Maple sugar.267 

Marbles. 287 

Marriage.464 

Matches. 286 

Melrose Abbey.230 

Men of genius, idiosyncrasies of— 504 

Mexican life. 176 

Microphone, the. 354 

































































































542 


INDEX , 


PAGE 

Microscope, the, marvels of. 511 

Milton, John. 14 

Minors. 467 

Mirrors. 286 

Moles. 106 

Money, how accumulates. 509 

Monkeys, baby. 107 

Monuments, towers and structures, 

height of.. 484 

Moon, the. 401 

Mortgages.444 

Moscow, the burning of. 79 

Moslem marriages. 199 

Mountains, height of. 482 

Mourning customs. 202 

Mower and reaper, the. 358 

Musical terms, dictionary of.. 521 

Musk. 290 

Nails. 277 

Natural Bridge, Virginia. 215 

Natural history, curious facts in ... 497 

Nautical vocabulary. 518 

Needles. 279 

New York, distances from to im¬ 
portant cities. 485 

Niagara Falls. 205 

Nutmegs. 314 

Oceans, area of.481 

Ocean, the floor of the.392 

Olive tree, the. 324 

Oranges. 323 

Ostrich, the.117 

Palestine, a dinner in. 190 

Palestine, religious customs in. 169 

Palisades of the Hudson River, the. 212 

Paper. .. 248 

Paper car wheels, etc. 276 

Paper money.„. 273 

Paper nautilus, the. 113 

Paper tree, the. 342 

Parent and child. 466 

Paris. 232 

Partition. 463 

Partnership.472 

Payment and tender.448 

Peabody, George. 29 

Pearl fishing. 388 

Penn, William. 18 

Pen, the, ancestry of. 533 

Pepper. 317 

Peppermint. 311 


TAGE 


Perfumery... 263 

Persia, a death in... 198 

Persian dinner, a. 198 

Persian wedding, a. 197 

Peruvian forest, a. 337 

Phillips, Wendell. 35 

Photography. 244 

Piano making. 262 

Pineapples. 320 

Pins. 289 

Piute Indians of Nevada, the. 181 

Plague of London, the. 77 

Planets, the. 404 

Plants, origin of. 503 

Porcupine, the. 96 

Postage stamps. 275 

Postage stamp, the origin of the... 537 

Postal cards. 275 

Power of attorney. 457 

Presidential statistics.481 

Presidential vote for sixty years.... 480 

Presidents, the, wealth of.507 

Printing. 237 

Printing press, the. 347 

Promissory notes. 447 

Pronunciation, an exercise in. 495 

Property, personal. 469 

Property, real. 468 

Prunes. 322 

Putty. 290 

Quicksilver. 330 

Quotations, familiar, origin of.. 501 

Railroads in the United States. 480 

Rain.. 

Raisins. 321 

Rattlesnake, the diamond. 108 

Receipts.. 

Reign of terror in Paris, the. 73 

Releases.. 

Rice . 313 

Richest women in New York, the... 529 

River of hot water, a. 531 

Rivers, principal, length of the.479 

Roseate spoonbill, the. 124 

Rosewood. 343 

Russians, the, customs of. 193 

Sacques, sealskin. 2 85 


Salt Lake, Utah 
Salutations 
Sand blast, the. 



































































































INDEX 


543 


PAGE 

Sandwich Island houses. 195 

Sardines. 284 

Screws. 289 

Sea aster, a, attached to a crab.391 

Sea flower, a murderous. 393 

Sea horse, the.114 

Seas, inland, area and depth of..... 481 

Servants.468 

Servia, marriages in.200 

Sewing machines, the.352 

Shakespeare, William. 16 

Shawls, cashmere. 285 

Shells of the Indian Ocean.388 

Sheridan, Philip H. 59 

Sherman, John. 53 

Sherman, William T. 57 

Shoe pegs. 284 

Shoshone courtship. 181 

Shot. 29< > 

Siam. 184 

Siberians, habits of. 196 

Sicilian funeral customs. 202 

Sierras, the summit of the. 225 

Silk. 249 

Silk and satin, the discovery of..... 529 


Silver. 


364 


Silver Cascade, St. Anthony's Falls. 218 

Silver springs, Florida. 217 

Skylark, the. 

Slate pencils. 

Snow. 

Soap. 

Soap-plant, the. 

Soda. 

Solitaire, the. 

Sound . 

Sounds during the night. 

South America. 

Sovereigns of Christendom, the 

Spain, mountain traveling in. 189 

Spectacles..;.261 

Spelling, simple rules for. 494 

Spencer, Herbert. 44 

Spider, a paper making. 53 

Spiders. 

Spinning jenny, the. 

Sponges. 

Spools. 

Stag, the. 1°° 

Starch. 265 

Star lisli, a singular. 394 


133 

281 

437 

263 

332 

287 

121 

414 

536 

178 

506 


PAGE 

Star fish cactus, the. 335 

Starling, the .134 

Stars, the.408 

States and Territories, population, 

etc., of the.478 

States, origin of the names of.499 

St. Bartholomew, the massacre of.. 64 

Steam engine, the.344 

Steel.255 

Steel pens.278 

Stereotyping. 241 

Stinging tree, the.342 

St. Lawrence, the rapids of the.208 

Stones, traveling. 528 

Stork, the. 125 

Strasburg and its cathedral.233 

Stream, a marvelous.525 

Sugar. 302 

Sulphur.281 

Sumner, Charles. 37 

Sun dance of the Sioux, the. 182 

Sun spots, Herschel’s theory of..... 401 

Sun, the. 400 

Table, a useful. 483 

Tacks.280 

Tailor-bird, the. 131 

Talipatpalm tree, the.333 

Tallow tree, the. 342 

Tapioca plant, the.314 

Tartary, marriage customs in.200 

Tea. 292 

Telegraph, the.346 

Telephone, the.354 

Tennyson, Alfred. 43 

Thimbles.282 

Thrush, the—. 131 

Thurman, Allen G. 52 

Tides, the.439 

Tiger, the. 90 

Tilden, Samuel J. 51 

Timber, consumption of. 515 


140 

355 

389 

289 


Tin. 


379 


Titlark, the. 135 

Tobacco. 304 

Trenton Falls, New York. 211 

Trespass. 4 <5 

Trusts and trustees.463 

Tunis, women in.203 

Turkish life and customs. 172 

Turpentine, resin and tar. 270 

Turtles, Brazilian. H5 





































































































544 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Twining hyacinth of California.328 

Type setting machine, the. 356 

Type-writer, the. 358 

Tyrolese custom, a. 204 

United States, the, census of.481 

Valley of death, a. 528 

Vatican, the. 236 

Venice...235 

Vesuvius in eruption. 234 

Vienna. 236 

Vulture, the. 120 

Wall paper. 268 

Wall street phrases, a glossary of... 495 

Warranty. 449 

Washington, distances from, to vari¬ 
ous points. 484 

Washington, George. 13 

Wasp, the. 141 

Watch making. 260 

Water. 431 

Waterloo, the battle of.. 62 

Water spider, the. 142 

WattinsGlen. 209 


PAGE 

Webster, Daniel. 28 

Wedding anniversaries. 511 

Wedding race, a. 191 

Weed, Tliurlow. 34 

Whalebone. 289 

Whale fishing. 526 

Wlieatear, the. 132 

Whirlpools. 441 

Whirlwinds and waterspouts. 434 

Whistling tree, the. 340 

Whittier, John G. 42 

Wills. 458 

Wind.. 

Wine growing. 312 

Wolf, the. 92 

Wonders, American. 507 

Wood engraving. 242 

Works, remarkable, of human la¬ 
bor . 510 

Yellowstone Park, the. 221 

Yosemite Valley, the-.. 222 

Zebu, the. 95 

Zinc.age 




































































































































































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